By Eric Walberg
Canadian rock legend Neil Young has taken to the road with a mission. Sunday night, he laid down the gauntlet on national TV,
calling the Canadian government “completely out of control” as he began
his “Honour the Treaties” tour in Toronto. His goal is to help First
Nations in their fight against the expanding oilsands projects in
Alberta. To the government, “Money is number one. Integrity isn’t even
on the map.”
Honour the Treaties is a series of benefit concerts in Toronto,
Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary to raise money to support the Athabasca
Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in their battle against a multi-billion
dollar expansion of the oilsands project in northern Alberta. ACFN’s
2007 court challenge to Shell’s lease at the Jackpine Mine failed in
2011, but is being appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada.
“The oil sands projects are among the very dirtiest on earth,” said a
defiant Young. Just to extract and process the toxic sludge each day
“produces as much CO2 as all the cars in Canada”, three times as much as
more efficient methods. “This oil is going not to Canada, but to China
where the air quality has been measured at 30 times the levels of safety
established by the World Health Organization. Is that what Canada is
all about?”
This is bad PR for the scandal-plagued Conservatives. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper’s office immediately issued a statement insisting that
Canada’s environmental laws are “rigorous”, and piously vowed to “ensure
that companies abide by conditions set by independent, scientific and
expert panels.” The statement snidely accused Young of hypocrisy: “Even
the lifestyle of a rock star relies on the resources developed by
thousands of hard-working Canadians every day.”
Young wasted no time in turning the tables, insisting that the
tarsands “violate our laws, traditions, values” and the “inherent rights
of Indigenous Peoples under international law”, that it is the Harper
government that is being hypocritical. Young went to see for himself,
touring one of 50 oilsands sites, and was shocked at “the ugliest thing
I’ve ever seen. It`s the greediest, most destructive and most
disrespectful demonstration of something that has run amok.”