Gordon Laxer
The Council of Canadians Prince Edward Island, Fredericton, Saint John and South Shore chapters are hosting a 4-community tour featuring Gordon Laxer speaking on his book After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians.
The chapters are organizing speaking events for Laxer in:
Charlottetown – October 24
Fredericton – October 25
Saint John – October 26
Mahone Bay – October 28
The Council of Canadians is also co-sponsoring Laxer’s talk at Dalhousie University in Halifax on October 27.
In his book, Laxer, who is the founding director of the Parkland Institute and a former Council of Canadians Board member, argues for the need to plan beyond the tar sands, which he refers to as the Sands.
He writes, a “first step is to cap and then phase out the Sands over fifteen years [meaning by 2030], starting with the oldest projects.” And he highlights, “Canada can meet its target of reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent if it phases out Sands oil and relies instead on our slowly falling output of conventional oil and natural gas as transition carbon fuels to get Canadians to a low-carbon future run on renewables.” Many argue this could be achieved by 2050.
Laxer also notes, “For years, I called for oil pipelines to bring Western Canadian oil to Eastern Canadians.” But he’s not a supporter of the Energy East pipeline because he sees it primarily as an export pipeline.
He says, “Will it ever be converted and built? Even if it is, most of the oil it would carry will be for export.” He adds, “TransCanada and the Irving group are planning an ice-free, deep-water port in Saint John to load the world’s largest oil tankers with Western Canadian and shale oil to be carried to the globe’s most lucrative markets.”
Laxer also highlights in his book, “The Council of Canadians, Greenpeace, the Suzuki Foundation and many other citizens’ organizations are taking action to stop the export of Sands oil and to promote renewable and conservation. Their message is resonating with more and more Canadians, especially the young. Maude Barlow and her team of well-informed activists at the Council of Canadians have held big meetings in just about every community along TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline route, from Saskatchewan to New Brunswick, to explain that the pipeline will carry Sands oil and endanger their habitats.”
He adds, “TransCanada is running scared, and has hired Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, noted for their dirty tricks.” This refers to the November 2014 media reports that TransCanada had hired the firm in February of that year. Edelman proposed to “prepare a research profile on key opposition groups” beginning “with the Council of Canadians” and to develop plans to “add layers of difficulty for our opponents, distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources”.
The Guelph, Centre Wellington, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, and Toronto chapters organized After the Sands book tour stops in Ontario this past spring.
To order After the Sands online, please click here.
