[corporatejay]

Pretty great article by the journal. Actually gets to the reality of the debate. Very little nuance this week but they seem to have captured it. (Btw i don't think the poisoning comment was meant literally)

As recently as a few decades ago, nearly 80 per cent of the residents in Fort Chipewyan lived off the land. But activity in the oilsands is migrating north, swallowing up resources and, for First Nations, stifling a way of life. It is true in Fort Chipewyan, farther south in Fort McKay, and on other reserves around the province.

“There is nothing black and white about what is happening,” says John O’Connor, one of two doctors serving native communities in Alberta’s northeastern corridor. “There is no denying industry’s arrival has brought jobs, and that socioeconomic circumstances have improved immensely.

“But it is a dilemma for communities that are losing ground, literally, and losing touch with their culture. In the end it is almost a choice of ‘Do I die by starvation or do I die by poisoning?’

“If industry shuts down, they have nothing. If it continues, they are right in the middle of it. It is a really tough situation that indigenous people in Canada are in.”

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/busin...722/story.html