Oilsands, green issues missing in action in campaign

Alberta's oilsands and their environmental legacy - perhaps the single issue that most defines the province's economy and relationship with the world - has been largely absent from political debate since the provincial election was called, observers say.

Over the last three weeks, the race for control of the legislature, seen by many as a battle between Alison Redford's Progressive Conservatives and Danielle Smith's Wildrose, has been occupied by public-versus-private health care questions, talk of how to balance budgets and spend surplus energy revenues, and discussion of "conscience rights" and MLA accountability.

That mash-up of debates has pushed the cleanup of oilsands tailings ponds or greenhouse gas emissions off the agenda, apart from campaign promises made by NDP Leader Brian Mason and Liberal Leader Raj Sherman, both of whom are polling low among decided voters.

Chris Severson-Baker, managing director of the Albertabased environmental thinktank Pembina Institute, notes the future of the province depends not just on the oilsands themselves, but the world's perception of the oilsands.

"(The environment) hasn't been discussed at great length, which is surprising of course because the development of the oilsands resource and (related) environmental concerns ... especially those expressed by our markets, the international community where Alberta wants to sell the oil, is a huge issue," says Severson-Baker.

"It's such a big issue that the previous government was dealing with right up to when the election was called."

If Severson-Baker could offer a wish-list of environmental issues for leaders to discuss before Albertans cast ballots on April 23, he said he would like to see conversations about credible strategies to combat climate change, strengthening tailings ponds cleanup laws, and enhancing the biodiversity of the oilsands region as mining areas are reclaimed.

Greenpeace activist Mike Hudema - whose organization is consistently against further development of the oilsands - added water management in southern Alberta, the politics of major bitumen-carrying pipeline projects like Northern Gateway and Keystone XL, and wilderness protection to the list of items that should be discussed.

"In many ways, how (the next premier) handles the immense amount of environmental damage that's being done is really going to define the next four years of this province. It's fairly disappointing that it hasn't emerged as an election issue yet," Hudema says.

MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah says environmental issues may not have gained much traction because there is little to gain for either the Wildrose or the Progressive Conservatives by emphasizing their platforms or accomplishments, respectively.

"I think in the context of Alberta this campaign has been a campaign of personalities and other issues much more prominent in the minds of voters compared to the environment," Mensah says. "It doesn't mean that people don't care about the environment, it simply means that the political parties perceive that there are better opportunities in terms of gaining support in some of the other issues."

Redford acknowledged last week the absence of the environment from the big-picture campaign, or even last week's televised leaders' debate, is odd.

"It's funny, because what I've always said is that those (oilsands) resources that we have are what allow us to have the rest of the conversations," the Progressive Conservative leader said, noting the province's economic development is based on understanding the importance of the oilsands industry.

International eyes, she said, are on the province, and global climate change conferences have hit home the importance of Alberta having "the same goals as other leaders in the world." Earlier in the campaign, Redford did pledge $3 billion over 20 years to support technological development in the oilsands, but the topic has hardly come up since.

Smith said the Wildrose hasn't talked about the environment to date because, during an election campaign, "you just can't make 250 points."

If she were elected premier, Smith would work on getting out Alberta's messages on oilsands development. "In my view since Alberta owns the resources, it's the job of the Alberta premier to be an advocate on behalf of its responsible development, to talk about the very good news about how we continue to develop environmental technologies that allow us to develop this resource in an environmentally responsible way."

When the Liberals announced last week they would change Alberta's system for taxing major polluters' carbon emissions, Sherman said the "environment has been an issue across the world. People have been picketing outside the White House, outside the House of Commons, and Europe was on the verge of boycotting our product. We need to deal with the carbon issues."

But Edmonton-Centre incumbent MLA Laurie Blakeman - long the Liberals' environment critic - described environmental issues as second-or third-tier for voters at the door. "I would call it a vote influencer, but not a vote decider."

NDP Leader Brian Mason said he received thankful email and Facebook messages from Albertans for actually broaching the environment during the televised debate.

"It is an issue for quite a number of Albertans," he said.

Both the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Oil Sands Developers Group declined interview requests.

Original Article
Source: edmonton journal
Author: Trish Audette