I took a drive, and got some fresh air, snapped a few pictures (Yes, those are buffalo!).
I'm tired of Alberta being made out to be the big bad polluter, that is ruining our children's lives. Seriously, I'm sick of it.
I know it sells well in Ontario and Quebec for the Liberals, but people in Alberta are hard working, caring, and generous. We are also conservators, we like our land, rivers, and air to be clean. Farmers are the best conservators of our land, they make their living off of it, why would they kill it? In fact most Albertan's I know have a deep connection to the land, not the concrete like in Toronto.
Years ago, we drove across Canada to PEI, with 3 dogs. We stopped by rivers and let the dogs drink that water in every province we visited except Ontario and Quebec. We would not let our dogs drink the brown, smelly river water, it was disgusting.
Manufacturing has killed rivers and lakes in Ontario, but Alberta oil sands are now the big bad polluters? We are "easy" targets for ignorant Canadians, who will blindly believe "big oil" with their "big profits" are responsible for all their problems. Bet most central Canadians don't even know that they get their "blood" oil from Arab countries, not from safe, secure, freedom loving, Alberta.
Dion came here and told us we were disgraceful. That went over well. NOT! He has said nothing about our 4 BILLION dollar plan to capture carbon and expand transportation. He's too busy deploring a lawsuit against his party. Environmentalists have also been silent, except to say, carbon capture might not work. Wait until we decide to build a nuclear plant up north, that should get them going.
So, how many smog days has Toronto had so far this year? Is Lake Erie still a "dead" lake? Just thinking, maybe Ontario and Quebec should get their own provinces in order before they slag Alberta. I really hate that the Liberals with their NEP II plan, have started the east/west argument again, it's disgusting.
Oh, and those pictures? I lied, they aren't from around Edmonton, although they could be, nope, they are from reclaimed land by Syncrude, up there at the nasty oil sands. But, Dion wouldn't know that, he never went there.
Update: Hello and Welcome to all of Kate's SDA readers. Thanks Kate!
34 comments:
Excellent post!
Beautiful pictures.
I'm from Ontario and I love to see pictures from other Provinces across Canada.
The part of Ontario that I live in is clear and beautiful and the wheat is turning a golden yellow, almost ready for harvest.
Mr. Dion is coming to Huron County tomorrow so he will give us the Green Shift, I'm sure. I'm not paying 20 dollars to have a hotdog with him or to hear him.
good one Hunter....
a wise decision Ruth :-)
When are we Conservatives going to demand a full public inquiry seeing how Chretien and Martin knew about Omar Khadr being tortured, yet did nothing to stop it?
Did any of these photos make it into gores movie, NO. Compare these with the ones Dust My Broom had a few days ago of India's plants.
When was the last smog day in Alberta.
yesterday, i was swimming at a conservation area one hour northwest of toronto. the water was great.
one saturday, i will be heading to the bruce peninsula, home to some of the rarest wild flowers in the world.
ecosystems have certainly been damaged by manufacturing in ontario and quebec. undoubtedly.
they have also been damaged in all other major urban centres world wide.
no one denies that alberta is an absolutely beautiful place. breathtakingly so. however, development of the oilsands has taken a toll on the land and water.
this us verus them attitude shared by many canadians from coast to coast does little to bolster national pride in our beautiful country.
i think we're all guilty of it on some level.
to suggest that your dogs couldn't get a decent drink of water in a land mass the size of ontario and quebec is simply false.
should they be drinking from the lake in toronto? probably not.
are there thousands of prestine lakes and rivers stretching from thunder bay to quebec city? absolutely.
i personally don't believe that albertans are big bad polluters. rather, i believe that the huge task of responsibly developing the oil resources in alberta is important to albertans and ALL canadians.
my area of toronto is beautiful. we have oak savannas, plenty of wildlife, over 72 species of fish thrive in the surrounding rivers.
we must contend with the smog days. however, much of that smog makes its way here from the ohio valley. it's simply the way the wind blows.
of course we contribute to our pollution woes with industry and energy creation.
it's up to us to elect governments that are serious about addressing GHGs and all other forms of pollutants.
perhaps a better way forward for all canadians would be to support the efforts of all regions of the country to address these serious issues.
ultimately, canadians will pay the
price for the lack of action that all federal parties are guilty of during the last century.
you may not agree with the methods proposed by the LPoC. that's your right. however, dion isn't out to rob albertans anymore than harper is out to destroy ontario.
respectful debate is the way forward. name-calling and fostering suspicion about the motives of fellow canadians is not.
have i been guilty of such tactics? yup. however, i truly believe that the time has come to work together.
I'm having difficulty believing that "Drive Bye Jeffie" wrote the above post, but am willing to take it at face value and thank him for his thoughtful observations.
Wow Jeff, I'm impressed! That was a calm & thoughtful post. I also agree with almost everything you said.
Thank you for raising the bar. This suits you much better that drive-by smears.
Excellent post.
I wonder Hunter, when will Dalton Mc Guinty and Dion's clan plan to deal with the coal generating plants that is polluting ontario.
I noticed that the MSM have not mentioned a word about 'coal generating plants in Ontario.
It used to be that if you wanted to see wildlife around rural Canada you went to the nearest garbage dump. Now that practices have changed there, reclaimed mine properties are where I refer people. The lack of hunting means that the animals aren't as afraid of people, and the reclaim areas are fertile and managed and so provide a good food source.
I agree with everyone, there is lots we can do in our own backyards, and you know what, we are talking pollution, that's what has been lacking in discussions lately. Cleaning up smog, dirty lakes and conserving/reclaiming wildlife areas, that's what people want to talk about.
And yes, thanks for the well thought out post Jeff, it shows pollution is not a partisan issue.
to those who are surprised by my post,
after blogging for a couple of years, i grow weary of the endless partisan bickering that does little to advance the issues.
i think we're all passionate about our country. the way we wish to see national issues addressed may differ but i hope, at least for most of us, the desired outcome is the same. a clean , safe, innovative, just and prosperous canada is in everyone's best interest.
while i certainly can't promise to hold my tongue on areas where i stronlgy disagree, i will attempt to up my game. both in the comments and at my own blog.
believe it or not, we probably share alot more in common than we realize.
cheers.
Yet Alberta has a problem. Why don't people like Jeff just mind their own business and work at cleaning up their own back yard. Alberta will deal with our own issues without the likes of Dions Liberal divisive solutions of pitting province against province.
http://www.torontoenvironment.org/climate/smogfacts
Toronto Public Health estimates that 1,700 Toronto residents die prematurely each year due to air pollution (ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and sulphates). Another 6,000 Toronto residents are admitted to hospitals due to air pollution.
Wow, Jeff, did you hit your head?
I believe that we should all take responsibilty to be conservators of our environment, but do I think we need to be hit with a tax that is more a wealth redistribution plan than true environmental policy?
NO!
If the Libs had have included some actual targets and left out all the social engineering crap, I think they might have had a chance with the voters. As it is, they do not.
It doesn't really matter anyway, if emitters are heavily taxed, they will just past that down to consumers. It is ALWAYS the little guy taxpayer that takes it in the end.
Current market prices are helping to curb demand. Leave it at that.
I live outside of Ottawa in the countryside and spend my days half in English and half in French on each side of the river.
I believe Albertans might be pleasantly surprised about what "real" Ontarians and Québécois think; it is not in line with the "fake" views of snide elites and manipulating politicos in Toronto, Ottawa or Québec City.
Actually,much of the smog that hits Ontario is from Ohio. Just sayin'...
One other thing most people aren't aware of is the condition of the land before the oil companies started developing the oil sands. Today 100 ducks die in a pond with oil in it and people are ready to shut the tar sands down but there were always a lot of naturally formed oil ponds in the area. Since the tar sands have started into production there is a lot less surface oil and a lot less wildlife loss. If people truly are concerned with those ducks they would be applauding the oil companies and the clean up they have done. Your photos are clear evidence of what the oil companies are doing, would people prefer the old oil ponds instead of this?
Well Jeff Davidson, you're wrong.
"however, dion isn't out to rob albertans anymore than harper is out to destroy ontario."
That is exactly what will happen with this Green Shift, intended or not. It is the inevitable result.
And please, tell me how Harper is destroying Ontario. Don't just state that he's doing it, cough up the evidence. Is he being the GM auto shutdowns? Is it his fault Ontario's power infrastructure is decaying? Or has he shipped Canadian jobs to China where he has business interests? Oh sorry, that was a different P.M.
Great post.
Ontario should get its own dirty house in order first before pointing fingers at others (and that goes for their environment, their economy, their crime-infested landfill of human waste called Toronto, their social ills, their dysfunctional and even dangerous approach to multiculturalism, ...).
Also see this:
Alberta has the highest level of economic freedom in Canada, and the second highest level in North America, trailing only Delaware and tied with Texas, according to a new study from independent research organization the Fraser Institute.
But the rest of Canada badly trails Alberta. Ontario has the second highest economic freedom ranking in Canada, but is 51st overall in North America, trailing every US state except West Virginia. British Columbia (52nd), Newfoundland (tied for 53rd) and Saskatchewan (tied for 53rd) follow Ontario.
"however, development of the oilsands has taken a toll on the land and water."
While I appreciate your comment, Jeff; I do take exception to the above statement.
Says who? Instead of just listening to the environmentalists and labels like "tar" sands, I challenge you to actually do some research into what is actually happening in Alberta.
Do you realize that we are the FIRST province in Canada to do carbon capture, do you realize that oil companies have been working on becoming more and more "green" as time goes along?
You have been listening to the naysayers in your part of the world, Jeff and if you are sincere about trying to work together, I would implore you to do your own research into what you "believe"; I would suggest that you will be pleasantly surprised. You may even have a better understanding of why Albertans sit here under clear blue skies wondering how our beautiful province became the whipping boy of Canada.
Be really nice if people realized what the land looked like prior to Oilsands development... those wonderful pictures you've shown wouldn't be possible if we DIDN"T scrap the first 5 yards off the surface.
It's only after we take the oil out, that you can grow anything there.
Spending trillions of dollars chasing the poor little CO2 molecule is the surest way to avoid dealing with real pollution issues. We KNOW that SO2, NO2 and others are nasty pollutants, fouling the air and making people sick, but instead of dealing with them and improving the quality of life in our country we are supposed to be on some quixotic quest to reduce "global" CO2? Cleaning up a lake is a good thing - killing an industry over CO2, so that the industry just moves to China makes no sense, especially since this Glow-Ball Worming this is supposed to be global.
Dion's Green Shift program claims to be based on the idea of changing the tax rates on things that are bad for the environment and reducing taxes on things that are good for the environment.
So why is he taxing diesel fuel and not gasoline?
Gasoline produces more C02 than diesel.
He's taxing the clean fuel and giving the dirty fuel a pass.
Garth's explanation is that gasoline is already taxed, but so is diesel. Changing the rate is what is supposed to make the difference.
If that's the case, Dion's new tax will increase C02 emissions.
All that to solve an imaginary problem based on a mass neurosis.
This might be just a coincidence, but the east uses more gasoline while the west uses more diesel so the majority of liberal voters just happen to live in areas that use more gasoline while those evil non liberal voters use more diesel.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.
I have a relative who used to scuba dive in Ontario.
They were always amazed how small lakes would be vibrant then dead.
Pollution, apparently,
When I was in the forces som poor Albertans all drank the water near London and all were ill. I told them they were idiots.
"The part of Ontario that I live in is clear and beautiful and the wheat is turning a golden yellow, almost ready for harvest."
And doesn't have to be sold to the CWB,...
Werner, great article, I guess we aren't just rednecks and cowboys. Number 2 in economic freedom in North America, outstanding!
Economic freedom is what has made Alberta strong, and hopefully the new government in Saskatchewan will follow our lead, without our mistakes. They are sitting on as much oil and gas as Alberta, if not more.
It just shows that you shouldn't let the facts get in the way of a good story........
to suggest that your dogs couldn't get a decent drink of water in a land mass the size of ontario and quebec is simply false.
Hunter can't help it. She's a pathological LIAR.
Ontario has the second highest economic freedom ranking in Canada, but is 51st overall in North America, trailing every US state except West Virginia.
You mean Ontario lags behind behind dirt-poor shitholes like Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia?
How depressing.
*snort* Albertans...most conceited rednecks this side of Texas.
You mean Ontario lags behind behind dirt-poor shitholes like Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia?
If you look up "economic freedom" ratings, it is a Fraser Institute measure that is mainly about how much of what they call "government interference" is involved. Part of this is the "right to work", which means having a minimum wage lowers your rating. Allowing unions lowers your rating. The more taxes are collected by government, the lower your rating. If the government uses those dollars wisely and provides a well functioning state, maintains law and order and builds good roads, that doesn't increase freedom. If the government provides any kind of health care, disability support, welfare or pensions that is considered to decrease "freedom".
Strangely enough, the presence of Walmarts, destroying entire small town main streets and turning most of the merchants from entepreneurs into retail store employees is not deemed as affecting ones "freedom".
So the "freedom" is mostly the freedom to exploit other people without the mean old government creating a more level playing field.
It is mostly about "freedom" for big business, the bigger the better.
Anon 7:59, Alberta has a minimum wage but no-one even a McDonald's worker gets only $8, more like $11 to start.
Unions? The Molson's employees went on strike for higher wages, they closed Molson House, 150 worker out of a job. Don't feel too bad, we have jobs coming out of our ears, so if they were unemployed for more than a day, they were taking advantage of EI.
We get many workers from Quebec, why? The unions in Quebec are so powerful, most workers, unless they know someone will not get work. Unions are like the mob.
So, how did Alberta get to be #2 in North America? Could it be that we let businesses operate here without too much government interference?
Jeff,
I think that the LPoC disagrees with the first half of your comment of:
"you may not agree with the methods proposed by the LPoC. that's your right. however, dion isn't out to rob albertans anymore than harper is out to destroy ontario."
At least that would seem to be the case for the Liberal MP of Thunder Bay-Rainy River in an article he wrote, which was published a couple of days ago.
http://netnewsledger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=967&Itemid=28
A subsequent article in the same site describes the fall-out from the original article:
http://netnewsledger.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=978&Itemid=26
"Manufacturing has killed rivers and lakes in Ontario, but Alberta oil sands are now the big bad polluters?"
Yes.
Are you having a hard time realizing that manufacturing and mining, whether done in Ontario, Alberta, or China is going to result in the bad rivers and lakes that you mentioned encountering in Ontario? You didn't take those photos of the "reclaimed" land yourself, they are PR shots from the company responsible for the strip mining of the tar sand. For all you know they are from just north of Edmonton, and those bison could have reproductive or cancer problems.
Alberta (and Saskatchewan) don't get off the hook just because other places were polluting before we were. We should be learning from the mistakes of others.
Good post, and while I fully agree, I do have to magnify one detail.
Coming from the west, you drove through Ontario to get to P.E.I.?
Then you drove through some of the cleanest water in the world in Northwestern Ontario. I realize that there is resentment and a disconnect between Alberta and Ontario but there is resentment and a disconnect between South Ontario and Northwestern Ontario. The smog you mention in Toronto is completely irrelevant to Thunder Bay and area. It's unfortunate and undemocratic that we have to share
this province with Ontario but in the meantime please realize that when they say Ontario they mean the Golden Horseshoe.
I realize there's an Ontario boogeyman in play here but its true borders are at the French and Mattawa rivers, not at Kenora/Manitoba.
On your next run through Northwestern Ontario, feel free to let them drink from any river except the Kaministiquia. Drink from Lake Superior, even. It's Ontario in name only up here.
Good post though.
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