Forests and Biodiversity

Don't ignore any of our recommendations.

That's the message that the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project has sent to the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories in response to attempts at limiting or rejecting most of the 176 conditions the Panel says are necessary for the massive project to begin.

Tasked with reviewing the environmental and socio-economic implications of the project, the independent Joint Review Panel (JRP) concluded that it was possible to mitigate the project's most significant adverse impacts – as long as 176 separate recommendations were fully implemented.... Read more »

"With even more dead ducks just days after Syncrude was given a slap on the wrist with a petty $3 million fine that they can recover in less than half a day's net profit, it is glaringly obvious that the 170 square kilometers of toxic tailing lakes need to be cleaned up and phased out with a moratorium put in place. The governments of Alberta and Canada need to grow a conscience and be held accountable for protecting the public image of the tar sands industry by failing to enforce weak environmental regulations and continuing to maintain a 100% approval rating and promoting tar sands development. The devastation to the Mackenzie and Athabasca River Delta, the poisoning of Indigenous and downstream communities, and the continuous deaths and contamination of birds and wildlife in the region constitute an ongoing injustice. Denying the Total Joslyn North Mine Project would be the first step of such accountability.... Read more »

The Enbridge Gateway Pipeline project is the leading and largest Alberta Tar Sands twin pipeline proposed for expansion to the B.C. northwest coast. There are currently 5 pipelines, new and expansions, proposed across Northern B.C. potentially transporting up to a gradual increase of a 700,000 barrels of oil per day. The Enbridge Gateway Pipeline project in particular will travel across approximately 1,000 pristine streams, rivers, lakes, and natural wild salmon spawning grounds, a total one-way distance of 1,170 kilometers. The diversity and sensitivity of the wildlife is far more important then transporting heavy toxic crude and volatile condensate across the region. In addition to the shortcomings of this overall project, there are a very limited number of sustainable jobs available to local people who live in the region.

The current projects being proposed are:... Read more »

EDMONTON — Three Canadian environmental groups released a report Wednesday calling on the federal government to fulfil its regulatory duties in managing the impacts of oilsands development.

“Canada has no choice other than to address the growing impacts of the oilsands industry,” says the report, called Duty Calls: Federal Responsibility in Canada’s Oilsands. “Pollution from the industry is rising, the landscape is being damaged by unfettered development and there are plans to double production over the next few years, which will only increase the damage.”... Read more »

As we watch the toxic tailings sludge devastate land and water in Hungary, Canadians wonder "could it happen here?" Canada does, after all, have tailings ponds across the country to contain the toxic byproducts of mining and tar sands production. But surely a country as developed and responsible as Canada would have strong regulatory safeguards in place to prevent such an accident compared to Hungary, right?

Now is the time to ask our federal government just that question, as it ponders granting approval for a new tar sands mine, proposed by French energy company Total, which would add two more tailings ponds and produce 12.5 billion litres of toxic tailings every year.... Read more »