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Oil Spill in Lubicon Territory: When Pipelines Explode

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A discussion on the implications for Little Buffalo and how Toronto can support.

With special guest Melina Laboucon-Massimo from the community of Little Buffalo, Lubicon Cree Territory, Alberta.

On April 29th, 2011, the Plains All American pipeline burst and caused nearly 4.5 million liters of tar sands crude and diluent to spill uncontrollably out onto Lubicon traditional territory.   The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) in Alberta failed to give adequate notice to the community of the spill or information on clean up efforts. In fact, during the first five days of the crisis, the ERCB sent the community just one fax report and failed to attend a community meeting, though were explicitly invited. Most of the community and Peace River region was unaware of the spill for days outside of rumors. However, children experienced nausea, burning eyes and headaches, forcing the school at Little Buffalo to be closed until May 10th. Corporate negligence, coupled with government inaction, compounded by the racism of indifference has left the community reeling. They have been forced now to take matters into their own hands.

The spill has been exacerbated by wildfires burning uncontrolled in Alberta. The community of Little Buffalo, and now the oil spill site, is located near these dangerous, uncontrolled fires. On May 15th, the company suspended clean up efforts because of the fires. Come learn from a discussion on the implications for Little Buffalo and find out how Toronto can support.

Please Join Us May 23rd
Doors open at 6:30 pm, event starts 7 pm sharp.
Toronto Free Galery
1277 Bloor St W (Bloor and Landsdowne)
Building is accessible.

Join Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131781800232091

For more information, please email Environmental Justice Toronto at ej.action@gmail.com or the Indigenous Sovereignty and Solidarity Network at iswtoronto@gmail.com

Event Supported by: Environmental Justice Toronto, Indigenous Sovereignty and Solidarity Network, UTERN and FES York University.

Colloquium on the Global South

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The Social and Environmental Implications of Extractive Industries in the Global South

Panelists: Kernaghan Webb (Associate Professor, Business Law, Ryerson), Uwafiokun Idemudia (Assistant Professor, African Studies, York), and David Szablowski (Law and Society, York)

Many aspects of our daily lives rely heavily on resources obtained from the South. Extractive industries such as mining and oil cause severe social and environmental degradation in many southern countries. This panel aims to discuss the consequences of these industries as well as address possible changes in the structure and governance of the mining and oil industries.

Topics covered will include: mining as a development model, governance of MNE Extractive Activities in Developing Countries as well as examining partnership initiatives that address the links between oil extraction and poverty reduction in the Niger Delta.

Wednesday, March 19 (2:30-4:30 pm)
Room 390 York Lanes, York University

This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS).

Alberta Tar Sands documentary airs on CBC tonight

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A new documentary "Tar Sands, The Selling of Alberta" commissioned by the CBC, will be on channel 5 Toronto, tonight at 9 pm. In an interview on The Hour last night, the filmaker, Peter Raymont, pointed out that Fort McMurray, in Alberta, is the third largest Newfoundland city in Canada (that's an indication of the extent of within-Canada migration!).

For those of you who haven't paid much attention to exactly what the fuss about the Tar Sands is, imagine that you take a can of motor oil, walk over to your child's sand box (or the local park's kiddie sand box!), pour the oil into the sand, and mix it around. Then, someone tells you that you need to get that oil off of that sand and back into the can! That is the challenge with the Tar Sands - it's a huge fossil fuel reserve, but the oil is very difficult and energetically expensive to extract. When it comes to carbon emissions, the cost of extracting the oil is huge. The documentary explores the social impacts and geopolitics of this issue, moreso than the environmental aspects. But, all of these aspects are directly linked when it comes to sustainability. Highly recommended viewing.

Dawn Bazely

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