The prime minister seems determined to shore up the 71 percent American owned tar sand projects
To the Expositor:
Voter pushback continues against the consequences of “global warming.” Despite feel good promises, the Canadian government’s neo-colonial suppression of First Nations communities marches on. Politicians and the corporate media find this inconsequential to the obsession with sustaining the yearly burden of billions of dollars in obscene corporate welfare and propping up of a doomed global fossil fuel industry.
As a lifelong lover of nature and water sports, years ago I had a profound experience as a volunteer with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary on the west coast of British Columbia. I continue to be outraged that previous Liberal and Conservative governments have contributed to the ongoing reduction in funding for Canada’s Coast Guard. Despite the stalwart efforts of devoted volunteers, there is still a minimal coast guard presence on either the coastal salt water or central Great Lakes fresh water territories. An improved “search and rescue” capacity for both commercial shipping and recreational boating, let alone the monitoring and maintenance of the sovereignty of Canadian water, is more necessary than ever.
The Harper Conservative government did initiate a grand gesture to respond to concern for Canada’s lack of presence in the Arctic. This was prompted by the beginning of international commercial shipping in the now thawed “Northwest Passage.” However, the start of construction on one base on Baffin Island and the order of a few more “slush breakers” is embarrassingly insufficient. Improving support for the people who actually live in the Canadian Arctic and a reduction in the outrageously expensive northern transportation costs, should be considered.
Due to spending my life by the water in rural parts of the country, I’m unimpressed by the cavalier attitude of provincial and federal governments to the desperate need for greater protection for those who ply the water, let alone the water itself. Major investment is required to build various Coast Guard bases on each of the Great Lakes, let alone throughout the Arctic, the B.C. and Maritime coasts. Manitoulin Island is perfectly situated for a central base and “Coast Guard Training Centre,” to spearhead this initiative. (How could we afford this? Note rant on “corporate welfare.”)
For years, Canadian governments have acquiesced passively to the dominance of our neighbour to the south. One can only hope the recent kerfuffle by President Trump at the G7 meeting, despite Canada’s long-standing economic and military support of the United States, might be considered a “wake-up call.” The sham re-negotiation of the “NAFTA” free trade deal bogs down in schoolyard antics over mutually self-destructive tariffs. Nothing is mentioned about the continued corporate rape of Canada’s natural resources. Despite Trump’s uninformed opinion to the contrary, Canada has maintained a consistently balanced trade relationship with the United States for the past thirty years.
Prime Minister Trudeau, despite endless broken campaign promises, is now lionized for “standing up to the bullying isolationist rhetoric of President Trump.” Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau pursues the ill-advised decision to squander $4.5 billion dollars on bailing out the wealthy American owned Kinder Morgan Inc. pipeline company, despite continued wide spread resistance. Absorbing Kinder Morgan’s initial investment in building the Trans Mountain Pipeline, plus the potentially astronomical costs of construction and liability for future oil spills, is bizarrely motivated by the intention to prop up the Alberta Tar Sands, now 71 percent foreign owned.
Despite the province of Alberta’s hysterical determination to sustain its oil industry, it has received relatively little financial benefit. In fact, both Alberta and Saskatchewan continue to charge oil companies minimal royalties. They have mismanaged the little saved for their respective Heritage Funds and inexplicably agreed to pick up the tab on environmental damage from thousands of now defunct oil wells.
The massive environmental damage by the Alberta Tar Sands alone, continues to be a contentious subject of conversation.
Purchasing this pipeline will do nothing to improve rock bottom prices and a hoped for increase in profits of the low grade unrefined bitumen goop from the Tar Sands. pursuing Big Oil’s cherished dream of sending more of its least wanted oil products to new Asian markets, already awash with other cheaper, higher value oil options, is delusional.
Another important related issue, hovering below the radar of the mainstream corporate media, is the continued determination of the United States to divert fresh water from the Great Lakes basin.
Derek Stephen McPhail
Providence Bay
