Athabasca Tar Sands Case Study

For various reasons, the Canadian government continues harmful practices in lieu of the concerns from Aboriginal peoples. Returning to McGregor (2004), the power imbalance that exists between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people is apparent (p. 398), especially regarding oil extraction. So long as “western” theories of production and management are followed, opposing ideals will not dominate. There are large profits to be made in the Athabasca region from resource extraction. As a result, the Canadian government reduces the region to a marketable commodity (Latulippe,

These factors result in several issues and challenges. These matters have brought a conflict between the various stakeholders in this industry (Oilsandstruth.org, 2015). This discussion aims to identify the primary issues associated with the Canada oil sands and the involved stakeholders. Secondly, the stakeholders’ political view will be established. Finally, the discussion will recommend policies that can be effective in solving the challenges associated with the issues.

In “Tarmageddon: Dirty oil is turning Canada into a corrupt petro-state,” Andrew Nikiforuk argues that the Canadian oil industry has harmed Canada’s environmental, political and economical images. First, Canada starts to be regarded as having a defensive attitude towards environmental issues since the Bitumen has been explored. Regardless of the Bitumen’s high cost and emission, Canada still welcomes billions of foreign investment in the Bitumen. Consequently, newly operated industries begin to destroy the forest and generate toxic waste (even into water). While refining oil, lots of energy and freshwater are squandered, outpouring a considerable amount of carbon emission. Hence, Canadian oil industry has been pictured as a “carbon-making

The question that has arisen from this shift is whether or not the Canadian oil and gas industry inclusive of the upstream, and midstream sectors, has a net positive benefit to Canada. This essay will explore and seek to understand the myriad of issues that this industry faces daily.

Kinder Morgan 's Trans Mountain pipeline has been intensely restricted by numerous First Nations, however voices on the opposite side of the gap developed to dispatch a solid support of the oil patch. Chief Jim Boucher told the Assembly of First Nations ' gathering in Gatineau, Que, that his group has seen a budgetary benefit from its inclusion in oil and gas extraction and that environmentalists ought to be overlooked on the grounds that they are at fault across the board regarding poverty in Canada 's north. His people of Fort McKay, north of Fort McMurray, the epicenter of the oil sands, has an unemployment rate of zero, an average yearly per person income of $120,000 and monetary possessions in overabundance of $2 billion. That cash has been pumped into education, long haul care for seniors and other foundation ventures. With regards to pipelines and oil sands improvement, it is reasonable from Jim Boucher’s peoples’ point of view that they have to accomplish more, he said, amid an open session on energy strategy at the exceptional

Modern day Canada is posed with the current issues of energy and the environment becoming increasingly important within the public and political sectors. The impetus has come from a variety of factors such as the collective development of nonconventional resources, the environmental concern from Canadians, and the demand for renewable energy sources. Many premiers have since called for a ‘national energy strategy’ however the clashes of policies on the federal and provincial levels cause a decrease in progress. This has become largely apparent in the current debates over Alberta’s bitumen deposits and pipelines. The Alberta government has advocated for a ‘national energy strategy’ led by Ottawa placing their political emphasis on the need for Canada to achieve a vision of environmental supremacy. This paper seeks to investigate the clashes of interprovincial trade and commerce powers with the provinces natural resource power debates over Alberta’s pipelines and bitumen deposits in conjunction with the general Canadians feeling of a lack of democracy.

In 2015, the world will face a vast amount of dilemmas; these dilemmas range from how someone is going to get their food to how they are going to cook. But the biggest dilemma of them all, is how they are going to continue to get energy to do everyday tasks. The most efficient resources are those of the nonrenewable variety. These nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. Someday these resources will run out and will not be replenished for thousands of years. As of now, an overwhelming majority of the energy used in the world today is non-renewable. We, as civilized people, are so dependent on fossil fuels that we go through extraneous efforts to retrieve these properties. The world needs energy to function and sites that once contained vital resources are on the verge of depletion. It is inevitable that the world looks elsewhere for another resource to absorb the depleting reservoirs. One reservoir capable of withstanding the demand for oil are the tar sands located near Alberta, Canada. These tar sands are the third largest reservoir of crude oil in the world and are conveniently located just north of the United States border (About the Project). There is a wide spread debate on whether or not the crude oil produced from these tar sands should be transported via pipeline. With critical analysis of all point of views, it is without a doubt that the United States should cease their delay on

Modern day Canada is posed with the current issues of energy and the environment becoming increasingly important within the public and political sectors. The impetus has come from a variety of factors such as the collective development of nonconventional resources, the environmental concern of Canadians, and the demand for renewable energy sources. Many premiers have since called for a ‘national energy strategy’ however the governments tendency to avoid national approaches to energy allows no progression to be made. This has become largely apparent in the current debates over Alberta’s bitumen deposits. The Alberta government has advocated for a ‘national energy strategy’ led by Ottawa placing their political emphasis on the need for Canada to achieve a vision of environmental supremacy. This paper seeks to investigate the clashes of interprovincial trade and commerce powers with the provinces natural resource power debates over Alberta’s bitumen deposits in conjunction with the general Canadians feeling of a lack of democracy.

The statement ‘Canada oil sands are much more of a blessing rather than a curse’ is not true because the disadvantages of oil sands outweigh the advantages. For this reason, this paper aims at indicating points against the statement. To understand the defects of oil sand exploration in Canada, one has to delve into the explanation of what oil sands are as well as how the entire process of mining and refining and thereafter, determine the disadvantages based on socioeconomic factors, environmental factors, as well as the infrastructure and energy required for its production.

First of all, the mining of bitumen burns enough natural gas every day that can heat 6 million homes. It takes more than 3 million barrels of fresh water a day to produce 1 billion barrels of bitumen, 2 tons of earth excavation and sand to make 1 barrel of bitumen, about 2 tons of tar sands are required to produce 1barrel of oil and then 90% of the polluted water are dumped in the world’s largest impoundments of toxic waste which are the tailing pounds along the Athabasca River. If tar sands growth goes unchecked an area the size of Florida will become a wasteland. A single incident, in 2008, 1,600 ducks died after landing in the tailing pounds of syncrude tar sands mine. It is not only destructive to ancestral lands, habitat, both on land and water but also causes enormous GHG emissions. Data shows that oil sands are Canada’s largest source of CO2 emissions.

The operation of the Athabasca oil sands causes indigenous populations in Alberta express concerns about escalating environmental degradation. More specifically, the rapid development in the reduction of water quality systematically disadvantages indigenous populations. As production in the oil sands continues, the Canadian government neglects concerns about constitutionally protected rights. This paper will provide a comprehensive analysis of policy and legal justifications for water contamination within Athabasca.

Oil and gas usage because of tar sands is now considered the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, which means it actually produces more greenhouse gas emissions in North America than all the CO2 from vehicles. The tar sands create both a noxious air quality, and a polluted water quality with bitumen (Greenpeace Canada; Semeniuk, 2016). This issue, in relation to Canada, is most problematic at the Alberta tar sands. The scientific consensus on this issue is that the tar sands not only has become one of the biggest emissions problems in Canada, but also that it has become a major health concern because of the misunderstood and unknown pollutants in the air (Greenpeace Canada; Semeniuk, 2016; Dr. Gosselin, Dr. Hrudey, Dr. Naeth, Dr. Plourde, Dr. Therrien, Dr. Van Der Kraak, & Dr. Xu., 2010). There is also a general scientific consensus that this change in the air quality contributes to climate change. This change in air quality also creates a serious threat to humans. The tar sands impact ambient air quality and produces noxious odours, which humans inhale and have the possibility to damage our lungs (Dr. Gosselin, et al., 2010).

Alberta’s oil and gas industry is a major necessity to the economic well being of the Canadian nation as a whole. This can be clearly seen with regards to the federals governments Equalization plan in which Alberta has not received a payment since the 1960’s. Although the oil and gas industry is detrimental to the environment, it is a necessity to the life the majority of Canadians take for granted and the notion that we can simply turn off the oil spigot and turn to natural resources without detrimental economic and societal impacts is unfounded, unrealistic, and without logic.

Maybe you have never hear of British Columbia, a province which located on the West coast of Canada, but you must hear about his capital, Vancouver; you may feel unfamiliar about his adjacent province, Alberta, but you must have hear of Canada’s oil sand, an unconventional energy which is produces in Alberta. Rocky Mountains separates British Columbia and Alberta directly. For a long time, Two provinces get along with each other peaceful and happily. Until a project called “Northern Gateway pipeline” intrudes into people’s field of vision.

Stefanick Lorna claims in her book, Alberta Oil and The Decline of Democracy in Canada, the dependence of the provincial economy on oil revenues leads to the distorted relationship between government and the oil industry. In her book, Lorna mentioned that the policy, as well as the media, would provide benefits to these kinds of industries because the government relies on the tax from the oil industry to provide the financial support to their daily activities such as public services and the financial support to encourage the technological innovation. What’s more, the government advertises for pillar industry which could attract the workforce from other provinces and reduce the unemployment rate in the province. In this situation, the government might provide advertisements or establish policies, such as cheaper housing price or free medical care for oil workers, to attract labor forces and encourage the development of oil industry, which might be unfair to other industries. This statement from Lorna strongly proves that the single industry system is harmful to developing a stable and comfortable society. In addition, the book, Collaboration dynamics in mega projects in the Canadian oil sands industry, by Abbink shows that the mega projects in the oil industry are notorious for their cost overruns and schedule slippages. Although the author suggests that the oil industry could co-operate with other factories to reduce the risk and increase the revenue, he claims that the oil industry in Alberta, especially the sand-oil project, works inefficiently and wastes a lot of resources which is a typical example of diseconomies of scale because of the heavy industry and structure. The definition of diseconomies of scale is a firm which may become less efficient if it becomes too large (“economics online”). In my opinion, these two books all