THE CANADIAN PRESS -- KANANASKIS, Alta. - Energy ministers began meeting in Kananaskis, Alta., on Monday to start laying the groundwork for a national energy strategy, but there are widely diverging views about what such a policy should look like.Federal Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver and some of his provincial and territorial counterparts visited oilsands sites in northern Alberta on Sunday and Monday before heading to the picturesque Rocky Mountain retreat.
Oliver said the tour reinforced his view that the oilsands can be developed in a sustainable way, and doing so is a "tremendous, tremendous" benefit to Canada.
"The government of Canada and my provincial colleagues are concerned that we exploit this resource in a socially and environmentally acceptable way, but that we do exploit it for the benefit of Canadians," Oliver said.
"So I am impressed at the way industry has been moving with an understanding that it's good for business to be environmentally and socially responsible."
Oliver made his remarks on the tarmac of a small airport just outside Calgary, where the ministers were to catch a bus to Kananaskis, just over an hour's drive away.
Earlier, the ministers toured Cenovus Energy Inc.'s (TSX:CVE) Christina Lake oilsands site, where steam is pumped deep underground to make the bitumen thin enough to flow to the surface.
Then they visited the massive Syncrude Canada Ltd. oilsands mine, where an empty mine pit has been filled up and covered with vegetation. They also toured Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s (TSX:CNQ) Horizon oilsands mine, and did a fly-over of the huge development.
Not present for the oilsands tour were ministers from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, said Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert.
"Ideally you would want everyone, but we had a very good turn out and it was an excellent trip," Liepert said.
"A picture's worth a thousand words, and a visit is worth a thousand pictures."
Environmental groups have used video and pictures in their campaigns against the oilsands, also known as tar sands. A year ago, for instance, a billboard campaign designed to spook away U.S. tourists from visiting Alberta showed side-by-side pictures of oil-soaked birds to highlight the impact of ponds created by water from oilsands extraction.
The province and oil industry have responded with publicity campaigns to highlight efforts to minimize further environmental damage and reclaim areas.
Ed Whittingham, executive director of the environmental think-tank the Pembina Institute, said he's not necessarily opposed to the politicians taking a tour of the oilsands, so long as the information they got was balanced and touched on some of the environmental challenges.
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Source: Huffington
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