Syncrude Pleads Not Guilty In Oil Sands Duck Deaths

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/09/14/edmonton-syncrude-dead-ducks-pleas.html

Initial estimates pegged the deaths at 500 birds, but in the weeks after the incident more birds came to the surface. Staff counted and reported the numbers to the government as part of the investigation, but the revised total was not released until March 2009.

I never understood why we have major oil companies extracting "our" oil only to sell it back to us at market rates after paying us a tiny fraction in royalties for the privilege of gouging us. The oil industry should be nationalized to begin with as all the oil belongs to all Canadians first.

The major oil players will never have any real incentives to prevent such incidents as they are focused on only one thing, extracting as much profit from the ground as possible. They have no interest in environmental protection, and have proven they will only do the bare minimum they are forced to do. When caught with their pants down they simply pull a Bart Simpson and say "I didn't do it", pay the pittance in fines and continue doing business as before.

By nationalizing not only would we as Canadian's be able to reap a fair share of the profits, but we would regain control over environmental safe guards.

Seems you're buying into Chavez' 21st Century Socialism.

If Canadians want to regain control over environmental safeguards all we have to do is lobby our politicians. After all they do what we want don't they?

JTF wrote:Seems you're buying into Chavez' 21st Century Socialism.

When it comes to natural resources....yes. WE as Canadian's own the resource, therefore WE should be profiting from it. Not some multinational corporation that could care less about the environmental damages they create..

grumpy old man wrote:If Canadians want to regain control over environmental safeguards all we have to do is lobby our politicians. After all they do what we want don't they?

They do what the oil lobby tells them to do GOM. After all the major players have a lot more money floating around to lobby politician's than you and I do.

Can anyone imagine the results of having the Conservatives or Liberals running an oil company? Wow- that is a new thread for sure! Someone want to post that, right beside the gun registry set uo costs? lol

Rosen, you telling me there's not one existing Canadian alive capable of running an oil company? I guess only multinationals can run oil companies successfully.

Why wouldn't we just buy out the existing operations and continue business as usual? No need for politician's to "run" anything.

JTF wrote:Seems you're buying into Chavez' 21st Century Socialism.

Gas is only 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela. They must be doing something right!

The Americans and the Chinese have the biggest investments in the tar sands. We will never get rid of that shackle. As well, most of our mining industry for decades has been South African dominated. Nice to think that we as Canadians could "own" our resources but that is wishful thinking. Remember the lovely experiment called Petro Canada?

Chavez is a nutbar who is using his country's resources as a means to curry regional favour with far-poorer neighbours. I have interview many Venezuelan professionals during my attendance at various Petroleum conferences and these hard-working middle-class folk, who initially supported Chavez, are now feeling the repercussions of supporting a man who is another megalomaniac who kind of reminds me of another one who used to be POTUS......both jokes and dangerous ones at that.

Whay happened to petroCanada under government control? that should be a good indication! Did it make money compared to the privately run companies?
Seems to me that it wasn't successful?

Syncrude is saying that the ducks committed suicide.

JTF wrote:Syncrude is saying that the ducks committed suicide.

haha....too funny.

I just like to know what they plan to do with the lake of death they have created as it has no known way to clean it up.