Northern Alberta’s tar sands are home to an estimated 173 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen, a tar-like substance that requires intensive processing to become synthetic crude oil. There are serious social, environmental and economic consequences of tar sands development which prompts the question, boom for whom? Indigenous peoples rights are being overlooked, there are dramatic environmental impacts, water is being wasted and contaminated and market interests are being put ahead of Canadian interests. The Council of Canadians continues to support the demand for no new approvals of tar sands developments and expansions as a first step to reducing further destruction. Faced with a market-based moratorium caused by dropping oil prices, there is an opportunity now to address the market-oriented energy gold rush in the tar sands and plan for more sustainable energy production and consumption. We need a Canadian Energy Strategy that puts the interests of people and the environment first based on the principles of energy security and ecological sustainability.

Yes to EU FQD, no to tar sands: Countering Canadian lobbying against European climate policy

The Harper government’s foreign policy is increasingly about protecting corporate interests in the Canadian tar sands, including challenging policy that will help address climate change.

The EU Fuel Quality Directive will help reduce emissions from transport fuels. The draft policy proposes a value for tar sands, or bitumen, that recognizes that it is a high carbon fuel and discourages its use. The Canadian and Albertan governments have been lobbying fiercely against this.

The Council of Canadians is committed to countering lobbying against the EU FQD and demonstrating to Europeans that Canadians support climate action. To protect the EU FQD from future trade challenges, the Council is encouraging Europeans to reject investor-state mechanisms in CETA (Canada and European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement). Read more and learn what you can do »

PRESS RELEASE: Canadian Civil Society Delegation ends Tar Sands Lobbying-Busting Tour with High Hopes, March 26, 2012

Ottawa sit-in on September 26, 2011

Canadian and U.S. environmental and civil society leaders endorsed a call from the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Council of Canadians and Greenpeace Canada for people in Canada to join a mass protest featuring a civil disobedience sit-in against the tar sands in Ottawa on September 26, 2011.

The main message of the action was to urge Prime Minister Harper to turn away from a destructive tar sands industry and start building a green energy future that promotes climate justice, respects Indigenous rights and prioritizes the health of the environment and communities. View photos, videos and read more about the action »

Cease and desist: Council of Canadians demands end to Canadian lobbying against EU climate policy

Over the last two years, the Canadian government has lobbied the EU Parliament and Commission to weaken a popular EU climate measure aimed at reducing the carbon content of transportation fuels. The policy assigns the tar sands a higher carbon content level than conventional fuels. The Council of Canadians joined Canadian civil society organizations and unions in sending an open letter to Canada’s Ambassador to the EU, Prime Minister Harper, relevant Ministers and the Leaders of the Opposition demanding an end to this lobbying. Rather than lobby to weaken the efforts of other countries, the Canadian government should focus on efforts that reduce emissions, support green jobs expansion and better regulate the serious social and environmental consequences of tar sands development

Read the letter here. Read a press release here.

Potential Impacts of the Proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on the Pace and Character of Oil Sands Development

While the Canadian government and European Commission frequently tout the potential economic gains from a trans-Atlantic free trade pact, they do not discuss publicly the extent to which CETA would constrain the capacity of governments on both sides of the Atlantic to meet other social priorities. The Council of Canadians joined with The Indigenous Environmental Network and Friends of the Earth Europe commissioned the following legal opinion to examine those constraints as they would affect efforts to regulate the production of, or trade in the Alberta tar sands. But the findings also more broadly address how CETA would threaten a number of measures designed to lower the carbon and ecological footprint of economic activity. Download the legal opinion here.

BRIEFING: Keep Europe Out of the Tar Sands-Stop the Tar Sands Free Trade Talks: Canada’s tar sands are attracting global concern and criticism. The tar sands have become one of the last frontiers for “Big Oil,” including major European multinationals BP, Total and Shell. The unfolding social and environmental disaster in Alberta demands urgent action, including the respect of Indigenous rights, stronger regulations on carbon emissions, water use and contamination, and more. Yet the proposed Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), if completed as planned, threatens to undermine stricter tar sands regulations in Canada and stronger climate policies in Europe. Published by The Council of Canadians, Friends of the Earth Europe, Indigenous Environmental Network, UK Tar Sands Network, January 2011.

MEDIA: New legal opinion warns of EU trade impacts on tar sands, Council of Canadians, November 5, 2010

ADVISORY: First Nations Representatives from Tar Sands impacted regions, meet with Members of European Parliament in Ottawa – Steven Shrybman, Council of Canadians Board Member, Trade Expert and Lawyer with Sack Goldblatt Mitchell will join First Nations Representatives from Tar Sands impacted regions in a meeting with Members of European Parliament to speak to how a proposed CETA would impact the development and regulation of tar sands production.