Media Releases
Report seeks to address ‘knowledge gap’ about Indigenous oil workers
EDMONTON – A new report released today by the University of Alberta-based Parkland Institute is a first step in beginning to address the dearth of research and knowledge about the lived experiences of Indigenous workers in northern Alberta’s oil sands region. Indigenous Gendered Experiences of Work in an Oil-Dependent, Rural Alberta Community is a mixed-methods …
Labour’s voices largely absent from news coverage of pipeline controversies: Study
VANCOUVER—A new study finds that BC’s news media frequently reinforce the assumption that there is an inevitable trade-off between environmental protection and job creation. Released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Corporate Mapping Project, Jobs vs the environment? Mainstream and alternative media coverage of pipeline controversies analyzes over 300 recent articles about …
Oil sands ‘Big Five’ making billions despite oil price crash and pipeline delays, new report shows
EDMONTON – As debate continues to rage over pipelines and the current price differential for Alberta’s oil, a new Corporate Mapping Project report analyzes how the five companies that dominate the oil sands sector have fared during the recent boom-bust commodity cycle. “Despite the 2014 oil price crash and the ongoing hand-wringing over pipelines and …
Canada’s fossil-fuel sector controlled by a few major players
Canada’s fossil-fuel sector controlled by a few major players—including the five big banks, new study shows VANCOUVER – The major investors in Canada’s fossil-fuel sector have high stakes in maintaining business as usual rather than addressing the industry’s serious climate issues, a new Corporate Mapping Project study reveals. “Substantial ownership and strategic control of Canada’s …
Report on Mount Polley and Brazil tailings spills points to systemic problems with mining industry
Major issues remain unresolved four years after catastrophic Mount Polley dam failure VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s Mount Polley mining disaster bears remarkable similarities to a catastrophe at a Brazilian mine the next year and points to the strong possibility of more environmental calamities ahead, warns a new report that examines both events. The tailings pond …
Why would a boom town need charity? Report examines inequities in Saskatchewan’s oil boom
REGINA — When we think of a “boom town,” we often imagine a formerly sleepy rural town suddenly awash in wealth and economic expansion. It might surprise some to learn that for many municipalities in oil-producing regions in Saskatchewan, the costs of servicing the oil boom can outweigh the benefits. A Prairie Patchwork: Reliance on …
Pipeline feud underscores need for evidence-based energy strategy
Canada’s long-term energy security needs and climate commitments cannot be met without major changes: study VANCOUVER — A new study by veteran earth scientist David Hughes anchors the heated debate about pipelines and energy infrastructure within the realm of science and evidence. The study, which offers a comprehensive review of Canada’s energy systems, reveals that Canada’s …
Billions in ‘carbon liabilities’ demands action from Big Five firms
Edmonton — The five largest producers in the Alberta oil sands are failing to take meaningful action in line with the targets Canada has agreed to under the Paris Agreement on climate change, creating billions of dollars in economic and environmental risk in a world increasingly recognizing the need to transition away from fossil fuels. …
Public inquiry needed to properly investigate deep social and environmental harms of fracking, coalition says
VANCOUVER – A promised “review” of natural gas industry fracking operations should be broadened to a full Public Inquiry that examines all aspects of the dangerous gas extraction technique, says a coalition of community, First Nation and environmental organizations. The call on the new BC government is to broaden a promise first made by the …
Oil Politics in the Patch: Climate Change Resistance and Cultures of Silence
Regina — In the wake of “The Price of Oil” investigation into oil industry impacts in Saskatchewan by the Toronto Star, National Observer and Global News, the realities of living with the health and environmental effects of oil are beginning to receive public attention. Despite these impacts, oil-producing regions in Saskatchewan are still characterized by …
History of Alberta’s oil sands policy highlights importance of government involvement
(Edmonton) A new report analyzing the oil sands policies of previous Alberta governments reveals the critical role of government involvement and funding in ensuring more than narrow corporate interests were served in the development of the province’s bitumen resources. In Betting on Bitumen: Alberta’s Energy Policies from Lougheed to Klein, Calgary-based journalist and researcher Gillian …
Case for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline built on faulty assumptions, including tidewater price fiction: study
(Vancouver) As Kinder Morgan Canada turned to the stock market to finance its Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMEP), a new report by veteran earth scientist David Hughes finds that Alberta oil sold on international markets would likely command a lower price than if sold in North America. Both the federal and Alberta governments and the …