In conjunction with the Council of Canadians, we held a rally on Monday as part of the National Day of Action against the federal buyout of the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline. Many songs, poems and words were shared amongst the many gathered. Here is the speech prepared by Mark Bigland-Pritchard: $4.5 billion of taxpayers’ money... Continue Reading →
Open letter re: SK response to TransMountain Pipeline Expansion
April 23, 2018 To: Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan; Ryan Meili, Leader of the Opposition Saskatchewan Legislative Building 2405 Legislative Dr., Regina, SK S4S 0B3 In recent weeks, there has been a great deal of discussion across Canada regarding Kinder Morgan's plan to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Much of this discussion has framed the... Continue Reading →
Let’s have some real democracy!
“It’s not the government’s role to put its thumb on the scale of any particular project – it undermines the public confidence that the environment is getting the protection that it needs. Governments issue permits, but communities grant permission.” An important statement of democratic values, and well put. The speaker was Justin Trudeau (video here),... Continue Reading →
Oil vs Democracy: to whom are Wall and Trudeau accountable?
CBC reported on December 20th that the Saskatchewan government was ignoring the Information and Privacy Commissioner's recommendation that it release records and information relating to inspection of Husky Energy's pipelines. Following the Husky heavy oil leak of July 20th which threatened the water supply of North Battleford, Prince Albert and several First Nations, a Freedom... Continue Reading →
The Husky oil spill should be seen as a warning
As I write, a relatively small spill of oil (250000 litres) is threatening the water supply of thousands along the North Saskatchewan river, causing damage of as yet unknown scope to the aquatic and riparian ecosystems, and most likely contaminating traditional First Nations medicines. We do not know the detailed composition of the oil, but... Continue Reading →