Burtynsky takes on oil in breathtaking, stark photography exhibit

The federal government should be playing a role in setting policies to change Canadians’ behaviour when it comes to using fossil fuel and start looking toward alternatives, says award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky, whose photographic exhibition Oil is currently running at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa until Sept. 2.

“I think the government’s role is to set a level playing field and set policies that begin to allow us to look toward alternatives. I wish the American politicians were able to do that as well, but there seems to be a lot of very powerful interest groups that are firmly planted around the powers that be that ensure that any kind of policies that interrupt the flow of oil seem to be loudly shouted down,” said Mr. Burtynsky, a native of St. Catharines, Ont.