[JaredMilne]

Rae takes a clear-headed and sensible position on the issue. Unfortunately, he's probably going to get accused by leftists of "caving in to the oil companies", even as rightists are accusing him of "hating Alberta and the oil industry," even though he's repeating things that Preston Manning has been saying for years.

Only in Canada, folks...

$1:

Rae seeks middle ground on oilsands development

Postmedia News

July 14, 2012

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae waded into the oilsands debate Saturday suggesting that, while Alberta's booming development is an important part of Canada's economy, the discussion about how best to use it has been polarizing and unproductive.

"I don't think it's just a matter of saying 'I'm pro-development' or 'I'm anti-development,' I think everybody recognizes it's a huge resource for Canada. The question is: Can we do it in a sustainable way?"

Attempting to strike a middle ground between Opposition NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair's strong stance against development and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's position that the oilsands are crucial to creating "jobs and growth" for Canadians, Rae told CBC Radio's The House that "the key word in all this is balance."

"You can't just grow a development from 100,000 people to a quarter of a million people in 10 years or 15 years without really thinking through all of the social and economic implications as well as the environmental ones. . . . We have to recognize that we are, in part, a resource economy — we're also a manufacturing economy . . . and a service economy — but, to deny the fact that we are a resource economy strikes me as ludicrous."

After touring northern Alberta communities and oilsands development sites last week, Rae met briefly with Alberta Premier Alison Redford and Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes at the Calgary Stampede. He called Alberta's "National Energy Strategy" — which sees the oilsands as one cog in Canada's energy market wheel — "a very positive and effective way to look at what we need to do."

Rae said that while exporting to Asia is a logical step in a global economy, priority should be given to bringing oil from Alberta to Eastern Canada.

"A national pipeline is something we could do quite readily," Rae told The House's guest host James Fitz-Morris. "It's not complicated. . . . We just need to improve the infrastructure" that already exists between Alberta and the rest of the country.

"We've got to look hard at the fact that this resource is not going away . . . we've got to become world leaders in sustainability."

He challenged the federal government to set clearer standards for development and to ensure that all stakeholders — including First Nations communities, which live around the oilsands — are on board.


Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/seeks+mi ... z20jLQrCiJ

[Zipperfish]

[Unsound]

I have questions. What does mordor look lke once it's restored by the Sauron? And how many people's livlihood depends on Mordor? And how come it's only Alberta's mines that plugged into that poster? It's not like mines in other parts of the world are any prettier.

[Zipperfish]

Unsound Unsound:

I have questions. What does mordor look lke once it's restored by the Sauron? And how many people's livlihood depends on Mordor? And how come it's only Alberta's mines that plugged into that poster? It's not like mines in other parts of the world are any prettier.

For your information, the entire Orc population relies on Mordor's martial economy. Which is much more efficient than the Shire's subsistence agricultural economy, which, though bucolic and peaceful, is inadequately exploited.

And as for your last question, I'm afraid it's because everybody in the world just likes to pick on Albertans. I guess they're like the poor Dwarf in Lord of the Rings.

[Xort]

How about we build a pipeline across Canada, then make a right turn at the Ontario boarder into the US?

Bob Rae can as they say in the bible go know himself.

However if Bob Rae wants to do something for the industrial production in Ontario, why doesn't he suggest getting behind the development and production of LFTRs? (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) Then the oil sands can use the LFTRs for the heat needed in production, can give Ontario a great export product.