2010 Organizing and the Tar Sands: Inspiring the SPP and helping the Olympics.

 For much of the last year, many of the anti-capitalist and  anti-authoritarian forces across Canada have started to work towards  converging many of the bigger issues to take place in 2010 into a  larger whole.

 Some of the issues included are: The 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver,  the next round of Security and Prosperity Partnership [SPP]  negotiations to be held within Canada-- and the G8 Summit to be held  in Ontario all during that same year. On many different levels these  issues interlink and have an inherent connection with one another.  Some of them, more than others. Here I wish to make the case that  what belongs as a major thread through all of these discussions is  often absent among those of us trying to make these larger  connections coherent in our organizing.

 Here I will specifically focus on making a connection for the 2010  Games resistance, the SPP and the Albertan Tar Sands as another  central organizing point.

 When people try and establish a comprehensive vision of what the  critique around the 2010 Games is from a social point, the list  involves the decimation of whole working-class neighbourhoods,  housing, increased security measures, trade and migration changes in  a regressive direction, the further removal and/or denial of  sovereignty at the local level for many first nations and the further  attack on the environment in the name of ecology.

 In all the cases listed above, and others not listed, there are  shared results with the hyper-growth of the largest industrial  project in human history. The tar sands-- under their "rebranded"  name of oil sands, received an entire separate round of talks and  agreements within the SPP negotiations-- "The Oil Sands Experts  group". Their opening, "executive summary" makes it plain:

 President Bush, Prime Minister Martin and President Fox officially  announced the Security  and Prosperity Partnership of North American (SPP) agreement in March  2005. The energy  activities of the SPP encompass a trilateral effort among Mexico, the  United States and  Canada, to create a sustainable energy economy for North America. The  Canadian oil sands  are one of the world's largest hydrocarbon resources and will be a  significant contributor to  energy supply and security for the continent. As such, the three  countries agreed to  collaborate through the SPP on the sustainable development of the oil  sands resources and an  ad hoc Oil Sands Experts Group was formed that includes the U.S.,  Canadian and Alberta  Government representatives.1

     The kind of strange new world that is being enunciated in these  SPP negotiations even before we know what the plans include already  has the Albertan government given near-state status, sitting along  side the Canadian Government (then headed by Paul Martin and with  current Liberal Leader Stephane Dion as Environment Minister) and  that of the United States. Before the actual documents began the  various explicit thank yous to certain participants in this forum of  the SPP included four members of Natural Resources Canada, six named  members of the US Department of Energy, two from the Energy  Department of Alberta as well as the speakers of the "working  groups"-- from Jacobs Engineering in Canada along with the commercial  director for British Petroleum. Mexico had an observer from their  energy department present. The entire session was facilitated by a  consultant from Calgary.

 The discussions involve the problems of delivery and energy supplies  needed to create the level of production "necessary" to reach their  goal set of quintupling production (to a level that would outstrip  the productive capacity of both Iraq and Iran):

 The geography of North America requires integrated long distance  pipelines that transport  crudes and finished products. New pipelines and pipeline expansion  plans are already in  place to meet the certain doubling of oil sands production to two  million barrels per day by  2010 to 2012 timeframe. This includes extensions of the market va a  west coast port, and  more deeply into the U.S. However, pursuing new markets beyond then  will necessitate an  expansion in delivery systems. The fivefold expansion anticipated for  oil sands products in a  relatively short time span will represent many challenges for the  pipeline industry. New and  expanded pipelines will move more volume into existing and expanding  interior U.S. markets,  and offer shipments to California via the Canadian West Coast.2

 Further explaining what these kinds of developments will mean, they  explicate it with:

 "Regulatory and permitting issues were cited as a concern on both  sides of the Canada/U.S.  border, as they impact the overall risk and timing of pipeline  investments. In the United  States, pipeline companies face an often complicated and "patchwork"  collection of local,  state, or federal regulations as well as potential obligations to  Native American groups."

 [....]

 "Governments are encouraged to streamline the regulatory approval  process and better  manage the risk to both pipeline and energy projects. Canadian  governments have already  gone a long way to coordinating and streamlining the environmental  and regulatory  approvals, but more needs to be done."3

 In other words, for a project that crosses the entire continent, the  legal challenges that could be posed by local communities and  indigenous nations are to be negotiated away ahead of time. Canada is  already touted as having done a great deal of work eliminating these  "barriers".

 The extent to which labour has already been stretched beyond capacity  is earmarked for discussion as well:

 The rapid pace of development in Alberta and in other parts of North  America has  contributed to escalating demands for in skilled trades people and  professional engineers that  have placed pressure on their availability as well as the cost of  their services. These  pressures could affect development plans and time lines for oil sands  projects, pipelines,  upgraders and refineries. Construction materials also face similar  pressures. Several of the  groups also discussed the infrastructure limitations in the fast  growing region of Fort  McMurray.4

 The promise of actually looking into a social impact of the proposed  plans was negated only a short way into the "experts report" however:

 "While important to Canada, issues related to bitumen production,  internal infrastructure,  societal challenges from rapid growth, and the environmental  footprint were not a focus of  this workshop."5

 So now that any discussion of what the social or environmental  impacts are has been ruled out, we can get back to the "important  stuff" of the "experts" discussions. Such as how problematic it is to  ship all of the produced bitumen, "synthetic" light crude and various  blends of these, given pipeline infrastructure problems. These  issues-- discussed after mandating Canada in the documents with  dealing with "societal challenges" and "the environmental footprint"  on their own-- need resolution due to a serious need for more  pipelines and refineries. The logic here is "we make the plans at  this level, the Canadian government is tasked with coming up with a  'legal' sounding way to implement these plans". Not truly encouraging.

 However, there is one "societal challenge" area that the SPP talks  have no qualms about recommending changes towards: Labour, or more  specifically (im)migration regulations.

 "While not directly related to market availability issues, strained  availability of trained  construction personnel in Alberta, coupled with the relatively remote  locations of many of  the projects, have led to significant capital cost overruns in recent  major projects. Low initial  estimates likely also contributed to this situation. The combination  of these factors was  responsible for the scaling down of plans for another major project.  Canadian governments  are already aware of the need to review immigration rules to allow a  faster influx of skilled  trades and professionals from outside of Canada."6 (emphasis added)

     Other analysts have written of many of the machinations by which  the SPP plans to create a new, highly exploitable and disposable  labour force through programs like the "Temporary Foreign Worker"  program. The key to note here is the sheer volume and magnitude of  these construction programs for the "Gigaproject" of the tar sands.  Shortly after the above description of labour needs, the "proposed  action" laid out was: "Industry and construction associations in  Alberta need to pursue this issue of availability of skilled labour  at both the federal and provincial levels of the Canadian  government."7 To keep clear to people of what is and is not part of  the SPP's "Experts" scope, three paragraphs and a little bit later we  are reminded:

 "The upgrading and refining working groups also discussed a number of  environmental issues  in bitumen recovery and upgrading, and infrastructure limitations in  the fast growing region  of Fort McMurray. While these challenges are important in the overall  development of the  resource, they are considered outside the scope of this workshop's  focus on market expansion and related initiatives."8 (emphasis added)

 In terms of how to construct the needed infrastructure, yet more  "streamlining" is proposed by the "Experts". The highlights of  pipeline discussions include:

 Ultimately, the market will determine the appropriate investment  decisions. Continued  communication among governments, associations, and pipeline companies  and their clients is  necessary. Governments can help to ensure that issues are raised and  discussed, such as at the  Oil Sands Experts Working Group Workshop.

 Regulatory issues were cited as a major concern on both sides of the  Canada/U.S. border.  This applies not only to new construction but also to expansion or  reversal of existing  pipelines. [....]

 In November 2005, as part of the SPP, the NEB and the U.S. Pipeline  and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration signed an MOU that set  the stage for increased compliance data sharing as well as staff  exchanges and joint training opportunities.

 Canadian governments have already gone a long way to coordinating and  streamlining the  environmental and regulatory approvals, but more needs to be done.  [....]

 Governments need to streamline regulatory approval and better manage  the risk to both  pipeline and energy projects. Providing process mapping and a  one-stop-shop for proponents  would help to ease the complexity, facilitate coordination and reduce  the time required for  regulatory approval and permitting.  Expanding the planning horizon and including all stakeholders such as  government,  producers, NGO's, First Nations, and private landowners, could help  to identify and resolve  the environmental and accommodation concerns in a more timely manner.  [....]

 Governments can help to ensure that information about projects is  collected and  disseminated, and that issues are raised and discussed, such as at  the workshop. With respect  to infrastructure and workforce issues, government needs to take the  lead with policy issues  dealing with immigration and infrastructure while greater industry  transparency would aid  with long-term planning. [emphasis added]

 To help understand this perspective, a single long distance pipeline  can take upwards of five-figures worth of workers. In order to meet  the goals being set by the SPP's "experts", the continuation of the  trend begun in 2006-- with more "temporary foreign workers" coming  into Alberta than landed immigrants-- must not only continue, but be  ramped up by astronomical numbers. Such is by far the greatest need  that the North American energy grid has, if it is to construct many  dozens of pipelines, refineries, upgraders, open pit mines and  in-situ operations themselves. The complete wholesale creation of a  super exploitable underclass of worker across all of Canada must be  established, akin to the TFW employees building the "Canada" line in  Vancouver timed for the beginning of the Olympics-- but on a scale of  many multiple times larger.

 In our organizing and understanding we correctly identify the  wholesale changes being planned for the continent through the changes  to many different regulations, from labour, to "citizenship" through  to environmental. These analyses are all correct, but they are not  holistic. There are specific plans underway for these negotiations,  and the impacts and outgrowths of all of them are staking out the  heart of the social changes for human beings under the continuation  of the SPP. Twinned with agreements like the Trade, Investment and  Labour Mobility Agreement, or TILMA, the local levers of resistance  are being quietly negotiated away. This is happening at a time when,  for a multiplicity of reasons, there is seemingly no turning back  from $120-plus a barrel of oil.

 As a means to secure the price of oil stays high enough for the  second largest reserves of oil on the planet, the same people who  have brought us a war on Iraq will manipulate the costs of oil high  enough to make a major play for construction of access to the second  largest deposit of oil on the planet. Soon enough, geology takes over  as old oil wells run dry the world over, and these high-energy cost  reserves remain the only way left to "preserve the [North] American  way of life."

 When we organize to confront the Security and Prosperity Partnership  continually up until and through the SPP negotiations in 2010, when  we speak against the wholesale wiping out of neighbourhoods in  Vancouver and multiple unceded nations in the west, we are speaking  against many of the same issues-- except on a larger scale-- being  brought about by the latest play of a dying global petroleum based  economy. In the year 2010,as a part of the mass convergences on the  Olympics and on the SPP (and the G8 among many), we need to educate  our own ranks and speak forcefully to understand the central role  that high oil has in all of these plans. A fight against the kinds of  mass exploitation of people and nations being visited upon us all by  the tar sands is being negotiated through the SPP and is being given  full-flight through the militarization of the Down Town East Side of  Vancouver.

 For us to have a chance to defeat the monoliths being proposed  through agreements like the SPP, we need to look where often we do  not-- the disappearing forests and expanding moonscapes in northern  Alberta: Ground Zero for the largest industrial project in human  history, and the progenitor of the vast de-regulation of how human  and ecological resources are weighed against corporate power and  militarized states that seek energy and profit. The 2010  convergences, to have a lasting impact, need to make an analysis of  the tar sands an integral part of the work to be done over the next  less-than-two years. Maybe we haven't got the answers-- if so, we  must become skilled at learning.

 --

 Macdonald Stainsby is a writer, social justice activist and  professional hitchhiker who is looking for a ride to the better  world. He is also the co-ordinator of http://oilsandstruth.org

 He can be reached at macdonald@oilsandstruth.org