Home » News » Alberta delegation to pump up oilsands in Ontario PR blitz
News
Alberta delegation to pump up oilsands in Ontario PR blitz
News Articles | Calgary Herald | Jason Fekete | September 02, 2010
Read the full article on the originating site
CALGARY — It’s the oil belt meets the rust belt.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is sending three of his senior ministers to southern Ontario this month to trumpet the oilsands’ economic importance to the province’s manufacturing sector and affected communities.
Energy Minister Ron Liepert, Environment Minister Rob Renner and Intergovernmental Relations Minister Iris Evans — along with senior oil and gas officials — will also try to highlight efforts to reduce the ecological footprint of oilsands development.
It’s part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to improve Alberta’s image and that of the oilsands.
The Alberta government and the oilpatch have been reeling from criticism by environmental groups, corporations and politicians both in Canada and the United States.
“This opportunity will give us a little more insight into the way people are viewing what Alberta is doing,” Evans said. “We’re not there to brag about (the oilsands). We’re there to say this is a great resource not only for Canada, but for the globe.”
The trip to southern Ontario will include a stop in Toronto on Sept. 21 to meet with manufacturers looking to capitalize on the clean-technology push in the oilsands — the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia.
The next day will see the ministers tour through yet-to-be-named communities speaking to people directly employed by oilsands-related manufacturing jobs, while extolling the billions of dollars in spinoff benefits to other sectors of the Ontario economy.
A 2009 report from the Canadian Energy Research Institute estimated that Ontario will benefit more than any other province outside of Alberta from oilsands development over the next quarter-century, and is forecast to reap $55 billion in economic activity, tens of thousands of jobs and billions in federal tax revenue.
While the Stelmach government puts the finishing touches on the public relations offensive, it increasingly finds itself under attack for the environmental toll of oilsands development.
The Rethink Alberta campaign has urged international tourists not to visit Alberta, while a new report released this week said the oilsands industry is polluting provincial waters with toxic concentrations of metals.
Tagged with: alberta, ed stelmach, pr
