Cameron walks a tightrope over oilsands

Movie director James Cameron is walking a fine line between commerce and his environmental concerns. After a three-day visit to the oilsands in Alberta, and spending time with the Aboriginal communities affected most by the oil extraction activity in the northern part of the province, Cameron has called the mining efforts a great gift to Canada that requires careful management.

Cameron is the director of such blockbuster films as Avatar and Titanic, and recently called the oilsands a black eye on Canada’s image as an environmental leader.

A press conference was held in Edmonton on Sept. 29 where Cameron said he understood the desire to exploit the oilsands as rapidly as possible, but said “what I think is critical here is for everyone to take a look at what they fallout from all this is.”

Early in his visit to Alberta, Cameron discussed the “fallout” with scientist David Schindler, who published a water study that linked the oilsands with toxins in the Athabasca River. Fish collected from the lower Athabasca River, Athabasca Delta and Lake Athabasca show deformities, tumours, and indicators of disease. Schindler said in a National Pollutant Release Inventory press release that the oil sands industry is releasing large volumes of airborne pollutants.

“Peer-reviewed scientific studies show that these substances, which are toxic at low concentrations, are not only from natural sources, but oilsands mining and processing are important additional sources.”

Cameron also met with Alberta NDP environment critic Rachel Notley who called for a strong environmental protection regime, saying without it development will hurt prosperity in the province and community health.
On Sept. 28, after a meeting between Cameron and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, rumors began to swirl about a promise from the director to the Aboriginal community that he would help fund a possible litigation against Alberta over development in the oilsands.

Athabasca Chipewyan is located downstream of the oilsands, and has been actively campaigning against the massive development for many years.

In his press conference the following day, Cameron was backing away from the notion saying, “What I said was I was there to support whatever needs to be done if they choose to take legal action. That’s their right and I’m not going to encourage that one way or the other.”

Litigation could cost anywhere from $1- to $2 million.
Cameron is Canadian-born and wields a great deal of power in the American film industry. He arrived in Alberta on Money Sept. 27 and spent Tuesday morning on a tour of the operations at Syncrude, asking many questions of industry officials. He wanted to know about their environmental record, and plans for reducing the carbon footprint of the operations.

Cameron called his helicopter tour over the development area “Fascinating.”

“It’s very complex, a lot of moving pieces, a lot of things I don’t think the public understands clearly that I’d love to, as a storyteller, tell or hope to communicate.”