Well, most of the behind-the-scenes stuff has been accomplished, so I feel confident in opening the floodgates on myoilsands.ca – the new home of my oil sands. The old myoilsands.wordpress.com is still available for viewing, but it will no longer be updated or allow comments to be posted.

So what are you waiting for? Go over and check it out! http://myoilsands.ca

News sources to follow while this story continues to evolve are:

• On Twitter with @Mix1037FMNews – they’ve been doing a great job of getting information out on Twitter (nothing from the companies involved btw)
• Online News – Google News Search of “ducks tailings pond”  for up-to-the-minute news on the story from multiple sources
• Syncrude Newsroom
• Suncor Newsroom
• Shell (Albian) News Releases
• Alberta Environment Newsroom
• CAPP News Releases
• Pembina Media Releases
• Blog  - Straight Outta Edmonton (via @Avnishnanda)

And while not a link to a news source, here is a link to the Federal Migratory Bird Act (if you were interested).

From a communications perspective, it’s going to be interesting to see how industry, government, non-government and the public react.

From a political/policy/regulations perspective, it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

From my own personal point of view, this sucks.

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Did I miss some news sources you think should be on the list? Let me know, post a comment below or grab me on Twitter at @myoilsands

Posted on MyMcMurray:

Thank you for responding Ditch_Witch – conversation around topics as important as the environment & industry need to happen. All opinions need to be properly expressed and shared in order for the right, and informed, decisions to be made. So thank you for sharing your thoughts – I can see that you are quite passionate about the topic.

I thought about ending my reply there…. but I did write some points down, and they can be found on my blog here: http://myoilsands.wordpress.com. Please take the points as you wish.

My Response

Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, do I suggest companies be allowed to break the law or that large corporations be given a “dead bird credit”. If that’s something you thought I mentioned in the two articles, then I suggest you read my words again.

Companies, just like individuals, should be held accountable when they break the law. And if public opinion changes around what is acceptable or unacceptable behaviours, then the laws need to reflect those changes. That’s the great thing about democracy – we all get say (or so They tell me).

I am not certain that birds which regrettably landed in a tailings pond and were covered in heavy oil could fly for hundreds of kilometers without fully functioning feathers. But then again, I am not an ornithologist or a wildlife expert, and my opinion is just one of a bystander with no data to substantiate my claim other than what I’ve experienced in my own lifetime. Perhaps your experience is quite different than mine, though I do not like to talk on behalf of others, so I cannot know for sure.

Is a tarred duck “worth more or less than a bird killed in downtown Toronto”? I’m not sure how to answer that.

In my writing, I did not make any value-based comparisons of Alberta ducks versus Ontario birds. I only highlighted that:

1. 7,000 birds died from collisions with just three buildings in Scarborough over a ten year period,
2. There is on average a vehicle-animal collision every minute within Ontario (and that’s just reported collisions), and
3. That roughly 17,000 animals were involved in vehicle collisions on Alberta roads in 2005 (and by “animals” I’m talking about vertebrates, as I am unable to find reliable statistics on insect-vehicle collisions).

I’m just trying to show some other numbers. It is up to you to process that information and make the according changes or shifts in attitude as you see fit. If you see it as an attempt to redirect, then so be it. If you’d like, however, I can pull up some stats on other industries, but then, I rather hoped readers would be curious enough to do their own research and come to their own conclusions.

Frustrating is only one word I would describe this situation, there are many others I could think of as well. The oil sands industry has been slow to react to the flow of anti-tarsands campaigns that are out there. They’ve been pretty much caught sleeping at the wheel, and that sucks.

That sucks because I work with folks who are trying extremely hard to reduce the impact that the industry is having on the surrounding region and environment and their efforts and work is not being effectively broadcast to the world. Is the oil sands process perfect? No, absolutely not. Is it constantly getting better? Yes.

I do not blame my friends and family who give me a hard time about making a living up in Fort McMurray. All they’ve been seeing is one side of the story – of course they think it’s an environmental wasteland (which, by the way, I must stress is *not* the case).

Instead, I blame the companies themselves for playing ostrich, thinking that if they stick their heads in the sand that this will all blow over. Well guess what? It’s not blowing over. The companies are slowly starting to see this, but it may be too late.

I completely agree on one point when you refer to the oil sands companies as “basically just a bunch of ‘crack dealers’. We do alot of harm. But we also have what the addicts want and we can make a lot of money selling it. So that makes it ok, right?”. And the point I agree on? We as a species are addicted to oil.

In fact, I’m relatively certain that the computer you used to type out your response could not have been made possible without the benefit of oil. I could write more on this, but you’re right, we’re addicted to oil, and people want the product. If no one wanted the product, then there would be no market, and there would be no reason to continue. But they do, and we are here, providing them a service.

I have a nice piece on why I chose to write this blog which goes into more detail – you can find it by clicking the “About” tab of this blog. Let me know what you think about that piece, I’m curious as to your response.

You’re right about Greenpeace. If I were the CEO of Greenpeace, I would target the oil sands as well, it makes absolute sense. The owners are slow to react, old-school and conservative, there’s lots of money involved, it’s located in a democratic country, it’s an industry that’s relatively localized, it’s an industry that’s highly regulated so there’s all these stats available to scare people with, and the world needs it so they’ll pay attention when a big hoopla is made. Perfect.

You’re right, the smart money is on the oil sands. If Greenpeace went after some of the other oil producers around the world, well, the protesters might not come back alive… at least here they are treated with the accordance of a democratic law system.

Your last paragraph touched on a couple areas, the first being a “sky scrapper”. Were the buildings I mentioned in my post apartments? Or were they office buildings?

It doesn’t really matter though, because I’m not sure if buildings downtown automatically = less urban sprawl. I suppose I would need to look at urban development in more detail, and then try to make an informed opinion, while always keeping my mind open to other alternatives.

Am I for a higher density dwellings with less impact on the environment? Yes. Do I think we can make huge strides towards sustainability? Yes. Do I like to make sure I am informed before I express my opinions? Yes. Do I think I have a reasonable grasp of the details or am an expert in urban development? No.

I am not sure where you get the “3000 birds drowning in the toxic muck of tailings pond” reference. I’d be happy to do some reading if you point me to an article or two around that. Last I saw the number was about half of that.

And your last point is around the cumulative effects… which is totally justifiable. You’re right, there is a cumulative impact there. But do you care to tell me how it reflects against other industries? How about the coal industry? How about the coal industry in America? Or in China?

In fact, let’s not even talk about comparing it to another energy sector, but how about comparing it to the cumulative effects of the farming sector? Even if we focus only on the corn industry… Or if we look at textiles, we could just focus on cotton. Or how about electronics? What is the cumulative impact on the environment for electronics like the computer you used to reply to this post?

I guess I don’t really expect an answer to those cumulative questions, or even to this whole response which I admit, is a looong one.

My main point, and I hope the point of the original blog post, is that we take a lot for granted in our lives, and that we don’t often stop to think about the entire picture.

We live in an age where we turn on our taps and cheap, clean water comes out and never seems to run dry. Can you imagine how that must appear to people who travel for 15 kms by foot to get dirty water from a well?

We live in an age where we have cheap power that allows us to continue to be productive well past the sun going down. Did you turn out your lights on Earth Hour? I did. It was a remarkable experience, one that taught me how much I rely on electricity. What would our electric life look like to generations pasts?

We live in an age where you can have access to the internet, no matter if you’re on the road to Edmonton, or halfway around the world in the Sahara desert. Who could have foreseen that a century ago?

We live in an age that would have been impossible without oil. The energy within fossil fuels has allowed us to transform from an agricultural society, to an industrialized society. For good or bad, we are here, and we are now.

Do we need to take better care of our one and only planet? Absolutely. We’ve been taking advantage of the Earth for much too long. Do we need to start transforming our society from an oil-based society to a sustainably-driven society? Yes. In the long term, it has to happen or I think that we as a species are in for a rough ride.

Are we there yet? No.

And until we are there, the oil sands industry will continue to make improvements, continue to strive to be better, and continue to provide the world with oil.

oiled duck - photograph by Todd Powell, property of EdmontonJournal.com

So if you’ve been paying attention to oil sands / energy industry / business / environmental news today, you’ll more than likely have heard Syncrude Canada Ltd. has been ordered to pay roughly $3 million in fines due to the Waterfowl incident in 2008 where approximately 1,600 ducks died on a tailings pond.

I’m not going to get into specifics, but you can read more about the fines from Canadian Business and from our own Fort McMurray Today.

Impact on Wildlife needs perspective

I would however like to point you to a post I did in April entitled “[Insert Bird Pun Here]: Oil Sands and Wildlife“. In it, I take a quick look at how two different areas in how they impact wildlife: the buildings we construct, and the vehicles we drive.

impact imprint - courtesy of Janet 59

I look at things like how just three buildings in Scarborough, Ontario, have killed over 7,000 birds in 10 years. Three buildings, 82 species, 7,000 birds dead.

How come Greenpeace hasn’t flown European zealots over to Scarborough to scale the buildings, raise a banner, and then get arrested? (A simple answer might be this: money)

Anyway, I just think we need to take a broader look at how we as a species are impacting the world around us. If we talk the talk, then we need to walk the walk and demand accountability from more than just “big oil” – we need to take a look in the mirror and demand it from ourselves as consumers.

While nothing is official at the time of this post (around 11:00pm on the 18th), Mix 103.7 has announced Blake as the winner in the Mayoral race (by a considerable margin if you ask me) and the winners in the Ward 1 are: Allen, Germain, Kirschner, Meagher, Scott & Thomas.

No matter the outcome, congratulations to all the candidates for showing such a strong field and for making it difficult for voters to make their choice.

Looking for the election results? The RMWB site has it broken down by Wards and by the Mayoral race: Election Results

But What About Voter Participation?

Reflection is needed on the voter participation – I’m looking forward to seeing the final numbers and how they stack up against the different census data for the region.

———-

What are your thoughts? Are you happy with the turnout, sad, couldn’t be bothered either way? Drop a comment down below or let me know on Twitter through @myoilsands.

If you’ve been living under a rock (or, to be fair, out at a work-camp) then you may not have seen all the signs and know that today is Election Day here in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. And that’s ok, because there’s still time for you to get out and rock the vote. (voting info here)

Today is the day when residents of our region can make their voices heard and elect a mayor and council that they think will be the best representatives for our region. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will be the best council elected in recent memory.

Last time around voter turnout was pretty dismal (can you say less than 10%?), a major reason why I decided to help get the word out about the election and provide candidates an opportunity to inform voters through Better Know A Candidate.

I’m pretty happy with the results and feedback the candidates have been receiving, and I can only hope that myoilsands has played a small part in the record turnout that the advance polls have been seeing. (Hey, a guy can dream right?)

But enough banter, let’s look at some of the candidates.

Up For Mayor?

Watch Blake, Nebesny & Vyboh answer questions at the Mayoral Debate

There are four brave souls running for the title of RMWB Mayor (along with applicable Better Know A Candidate profiles), they are:

• Melissa Blake (profile)
• George Albert Mercredi
• Joe Nebesny
• John Vyboh

While I think the race here is solely between Blake and Vyboh, I’d like to shout out to Nebesny for bringing some “everyman” qualities to the race. Joe, I do not think you’re ready for the office of mayor, however why not try running for council next time?

Melissa Blake & John Vyboh

So it’s really just down to Blake, who is running for her third term as mayor, and Vyboh, who is trying to make the jump from councillor to mayor. But who to choose, who to choose?

Sith Lord - courtesy of johngreenportfolio.com

Someone (who shall remain anonymous) told me last year that if John Vyboh ran and became Mayor, that it would be the same as if we elected a Sith Lord to office (from Star Wars fame dontchaknow).

Being from a certain generation, this image made an rather lasting impression on me. And while I do think that the comparison is a wee bit of an massive exaggeration, I don’t think having Vyboh as mayor is a healthy option. In fact, I believe it would be a major mistake for our community.

Vyboh, simply put, seems to be out of touch with reality. I was stunned by some of Vyboh’s speeches, accusations and rhetoric used throughout the campaign. Vyboh’s campaign seemed to be trying to place blame where blame was not due – it just did not resonate with my thoughts of reality.

Granted, Vyboh has been the target of some hostility (there’s a fake twitter account, which in my book is dirty pool – no question) and yes, he has had to put up with quite a bit of flack from certain individuals (I’m looking at you @AlbertaLad). But that open hostility is there for a reason: Vyboh has made some enemies through his actions on the council and on the campaign trail. A political career does not come cheap.

On the positive side though, I do love the fact that Vyboh uses Twitter – he was tweeting long before hitting the campaign trail, and for that I’ll give him two big internet thumbs up. I love the idea of a mayor who tweets. There’s something very transparent and democratic about that – a mayor that uses social media to inform the public, on what seems like a very personal, one-on-one relationship – one can only hope.

(You can find more information about John Vyboh at http://www.johnvyboh.com/)

Blake, on the other hand, seems to be fully qualified, fully in touch and fully prepared to successfully take our community into the future. She has dealt with some off-base accusations with dignity, and the hallmark feature of her campaign, “are you better off now than you were six years ago?”, is a question to which I would have to unequivocally answer with a big “YES”.

Blake has acted like an adult and a professional throughout the campaign, unlike a certain someone else, and is in my opinion the right choice to lead the next council. If you haven’t already voted, and you’re still unsure as to the option, I urge you to go check out http://melissaformayor.ca/ and inform yourself of her awesomeness.

And speaking about leading the next council…

Ward 1 – Candidates to Look For

Since I live in Fort McMurray, which is covered under Ward 1, I’ll only be focusing on my home ward. If you’d have preferred I also include other Wards, here is a “how to” video from an Australian child showing you the signup for a WordPress blog. It’d be great to have more RMWB bloggers telling their stories, so jump on in!

The brave souls running for Councilor, Ward 1 (along with applicable Better Know A Candidate profiles) are:

• Mike Allen (profile)
• Byron Bailey
• Christine Burton
• Mila Byron
• Travis Dawson
• Mohammad Shafiq Dogar
• Sheldon Germain (profile)
• Rick Haney
• Ross Jacobs (profile)
• Dave Kirschner (profile)
• Gregory Lucas
• Phil Meagher (profile)
• Gareth Norris
• Don (Donald K.) Scott (profile)
• Russel Thomas (profile)

My first reaction to seeing this list was this: what a strong candidate pool to choose from! There are easily more than six people I would like to see become a Ward 1 Councilor for the next term – and unfortunately I was not able to vote again and again (I’m looking at you Mix103.7 web poll), so six I did choose.

Six For Your Picks

Like I said, picking only six means making some tough decisions, and that means some folks who I think would be strong voices for our community were left out… but for what it’s worth I think these six candidates will do well representing me (and hopefully you as well).

• Mike Allen
• Sheldon Germain
• Ross Jacobs
• Dave Kirschner
• Don (Donald K.) Scott
• Russel Thomas

For those of you playing along at home, if elected, four of the above candidates would be new to the council for 2010. I think the last council was sometimes suffering from a poisoned atmosphere, a situation I hope can be avoided this time around with some fresh faces and cold eyes.

Mike Allen. Of the two incumbents, I know Mike Allen the best. A local business man, community advocate and respected former President of the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, Mike is someone I’ve been able to have relaxed and casual conversations with. I like him, plus he’s an advocate for social media – follow him on Twitter as @Mike_Allen47. If you have questions about the RMWB and the council, he’ll usually get back to you asap.

You can find out more info about Mike Allen at http://www.pickmike.ca/

Sheldon Germain. Germain, the second incumbent on my list has the distinction of being the youngest ever regional councilor, and has in the past served as Deputy Mayor. Family is important to Sheldon, and he is putting a “Family Friendly Fort McMurray” high on his list of priorities. From some of the external press about our region, you’d never know we have dedicated, supportive and loving families here in Fort McMurray. Sheldon is here to prove all of those 24-hour journalists wrong.

You can find out more info about Sheldon Germain at http://www.sheldongermain.com

Ross Jacobs. Ross Jacobs would be the first of my Fresh Four to make it on the council. For a relatively young candidate, Ross has been a tour-de-force on the campaign front. He’s been smart with how he’s handled the campaign and I think he’s an equally smart choice to be on the council. Plus, and here I think you’re starting to see a trend, he’s embraced digital communications to get his message across. Ross is a family man (just check out his current Twitter avatar) and is the current General Manager of Community Futures Wood Buffalo. He’s actively involved in the community and is a great new choice for a new voice on the council.

You can find out more info about Ross Jacobs at http://www.rossjacobs.ca/

Dave Kirschner. Second on my Fresh Four list is Dave Kirschner. A 32-year resident and businessman of Fort McMurray, Dave has chosen to once again run for office and is “ready to be your full time councilor.” He will bring a wealth of experience to the position and will be an invaluable asset to the team. I’m looking forward to seeing Dave work with the rest of the council on the challenges and opportunities that face our home.

You can find out more info about Dave Kirschner at http://www.davekirschner.ca/

Don Scott. When you go to the campaign site of the third member of the Four, the following jumps out of the page: “Local lawyer, small business owner, and community volunteer to run for municipal council“.

I, for one, relish the fact that another candidate trained in law is running for council. Don will be able to provide direct and meaningful feedback on practically every aspect of council business. And as a small business owner, he fully understands the needs and issues facing small business in Fort McMurray. Thanks for running this year Don!

You can find out more info about Don Scott at http://www.donscott.ca/

Russell Thomas. Russell Thomas, a well-known face about town, is the last member of the Fresh Four. Aside from the tireless community effort he provides on a yearly basis (interPLAY ring a bell anyone?), one of Russell’s key strengths is communication. Wether it’s his role as the Director of Marketing & Communications at Keyano College, through Twitter as @rvthomas67 or just his own personal blog (Middle Age Bulge), Russell will be able to provide proven communication skills to the council and to the entire RMWB. Russell is also a graduate of the inaugural class of Leadership Wood Buffalo, an organization he has been a Director of since 2006.

You can find out more information about Russel Thomas at http://www.russellthomas.ca/

————–

And there we have it. Some guy’s thoughts from behind his laptop, about an election that (hopefully) you care about, on the day of said election.

Scanning Twitter (this post was written the night before), I’m seeing well-wishes and thank you’s between all of the active candidates and their campaign supporters. It’s a pretty good feeling seeing all of the positivity and encouragement between the candidates. Hopefully that continues into the council chambers and eventually rewards us with the best council we have seen in years.

And speaking of Twitter, Colleen Tatum (@colleentatum) just tweeted this:

I have a feeling it’s anyones win tomorrow for council & we all maybe surprised -it’s a new game #ymm

And you know what? Despite my hopes for the seven above, she may very well be right. Want to follow the election via Twitter? Don’t forget to follow these hashtags: #ymmvotes, #ymm & #rmwb.

copyright NorthernClassic.ca

I’m truly excited for the Northern Classic to be held on November 26th – I cannot wait to be out there, cheering on the MOB, surrounded by 4,999 other fans, in the largest ever Alberta Junior Hockey League game. Did I mention it’s outdoors?

But unfortunately, I, like a lot of other folks, did not react quickly enough and missed out on the last ticket sold – 54 minutes after sales started. Much has been made of the sale, as you can see by these three online posts: Russel Thomas, Vancouver Sun & the Fort McMurray Today.

So unless I volunteer (which I will gladly do) or win some tickets on the radio, I’m out of luck.

Sour Grapes?

Grapes - courtesy of totalsportspro.com

I’m trying to figure out if this is just a case of sour grapes because I was unable to get tickets to an awesome community event, or if I have a legitimate case. I think it’s probably both, but I do lean towards the latter.

It looks as though large blocks of tickets were made available to groups in town. And by large blocks, I mean 10% of total ticket sales. To each group.

Now don’t get me wrong – these tickets are going to go to some great causes (although I argue about the Fort McMurray Airport Authority purchase being a “great cause”) – Russell Thomas points out these block sales in his post:

The highlight of the morning was the community block ticket purchase by SEKO Contruction and Permasteel  Group that guaranteed the access of 500 minor hockey participants, and 500 students from the Fort McMurrary Catholic Board of Education and the Fort McMurray Public Board of Eduction.  The Fort McMurray Airport Authority purchased 500 tickets that  were provided to media partners to be used in the next 42 days as public give-aways in advance of the event.  Given the sold out event, the 500 media tickets will be highly sought after in the weeks ahead.

So that’s 1,500 tickets gone to three groups. That’s 30% of total ticket sales. To three groups. Why even bother advertising 5,000 tickets when only 3,500 were up for grabs in the first place?

I’d like to see if any other large blocks were bought, and if there were limits on the number of tickets per person. If I was actually on the ball this past Friday morning, could I have purchased 50 tickets to hand out as I wished?

And as to the media purchase by the Fort McMurray Airport Authority… aren’t a lot of the media in town for-profit companies, operated by large national companies? I have a hard time thinking a radio station owned by Rogers would not have gotten tickets to give away as prizes. It’s what they do. In my opinion it would have been better to give the tickets to community non-profits, such as the Hub, as an alternate source for fundraising.

I’m not saying block purchases by community groups is a bad thing. I’m just saying that the percentages are too high, and that if 5,000 tickets were never meant for the general public, then 5,000 tickets should never have been promoted.

So the sales, in my opinion, were not perfect. I didn’t get a ticket, I can deal with that. If I didn’t get a ticket and the block sales never happened, would I have posted this? Probably not. Could the Fort McMurray Airport Authority still redirect some of those tickets to better causes? Not sure, but you never know.

But having said all of that – I’m looking forward to this event coming to our neck of the boreal. It’s going to be an amazing time, an amazing community moment and an amazing game (based on the MOB’s record so far).

Let’s go MOB!

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Next week, Fort McMurray will be host to the first ever United Way Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament – many will enter, only one will win.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to become Fort McMurray’s Pooh-bah of Paper, then don’t forget that you need to pre-register on Tuesday, October 19th.

After you’ve registered, all you need to do is set aside your lunch hour on Thursday, October 21st, and head over to the Provincial Building Terrace for a great tourney and a great cause.

There’s a Facebook event page for those who FB, and for more info, you can either head over to the United Way Events page, or click on the image on this post.

Either way, I hope to see you there – throwing rocks for the United Way.

How do you ensure the citizens the best value for their tax dollars?

What is the question you expected this evening, but wasn’t asked?

The Three Debaters: Nebesny, Vyboh and Blake

Here are a few things I take away from tonight’s mayoral debate.

1. While the theatre had a lot of bums in seats, a large majority of those folks were heavily invested in either the candidates on stage, or were involved in council campaigns themselves. Thanks to @colleentatum for putting that bug in my ear.
2. Joe Nebesny, while not the most qualified candidate to run North America’s largest municipality (by square kilometers), was a character and received a lot of laughs + goodwill tonight from the audience. He is passionate about the community and sees a lot of good here (he also sees a lot that needs to be prioritized and tackled speedily).
3. John Vyboh is not a big fan of the oil sands industry – or at least he thinks they need to be more involved in the community. If I were able to question him about that, I would ask him to take a look at who raised the majority of last year’s United Way funds (hint: it rhymes with “employees of the oil sands industry”). He also mentioned how proud he was of the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre and the Suncor Community Leisure Centre. At odds?
4. Melissa Blake not only kept her calm, dignified presence, but she also stole the show ending with a standing ovation from a large portion of the crowd.
5. If push comes to shove, I am not entirely convinced that Nebesny would in fact not vote for himself come election day – based on how often he seemed to vocally support Blake’s comments… it was quite funny, and telling.
6. I will shortly be posting two videos of the very last two questions asked of all three candidates – enjoy!

Audience milling during halftime break

Melissa Blake being interviewed after the debate