1) It's very telling how your MP/MLA conducts themselves after an election. Which issues they choose to champion, committee work they do, access to them in their local offices to name a few. I live in a #SacrificeZone of dams and O&G. The entire region is a cesspool.
2) Even though there are regulations in place to protect our environment, they aren't adhered to or enforced. An example is the 90+ unpermitted dams built for fracking. Neither our MLA @Daniel_Davies or MP @bobzimmermp have done anything about them. Industry polices itself.
3) When you drive out into the thick of it, you see muskeg ponds with an oily sheen, creeks and streams that are foamy and oily. Impassable access roads that lead to well heads long abandoned but still there. No way to check if they're leaking, many are sour gas wells.
4) There's a place along the Alaska Highway called Townsend Creek that drops to a long curve. The odour of H2S is so strong that your eyes & throat burn when you descend. There are warning signs that tell you not to stop because H2S is deadly & can kill you very quickly.
5) One would think there would be some controls so the general public isn't put in that sort of danger, but there aren't. It isn't because no such controls are available, they just aren't in place. H2S is flared so the workers can work in and around the well heads & facilities.
6) All along the highway, huge flare stacks with 50 meter high flares are visible. When you go back into the bush, there are hundreds of mobile flare stacks spewing gas as they test the wells. Climate is a dirty word up here, you're a pariah if you fight for the environment.
7) I am one of very few that do. I do it because for over 40 years I worked in O&G in a few different capacities. One of my first jobs was as an oiler on the pipeline. I drove a truck up & down the line fuelling, lubing & greasing heavy equipment, providing parts etc to operators
8) that was back when we shut down for the caribou migration, we had regular visits from regulators & we did our job with as little imp[act as possible to the environment. We were conscious of it, reminded about best work practices every day.
9) We also paid heed to Indigenous people. They would come out prior to work being done & show areas we had to avoid or go around. The sacred sites were ribboned off & respected. They stayed there until they saw the site would be safe. I was fascinated by their stories.
10) We all were, we knew why that site had to be protected & we were happy to make sure it was. The funny thing is though, even though we had far fewer rules & regulations, we worked at leaving the land as we found it to the best of our abilities. Not 1 piece of trash was left.
11) Now, there are so many regulations in place, a safety meeting takes 2 hours because every contractor has their own "cover my ass form" we all have to read and sign. Despite the laws meant to protect our environment, it is less protected now than ever before.
12) So when we elect our representatives, it's important to watch their every move while they are in government. While Bob has done excellent work in Ottawa on a # of files, he's done little to protect the environment in this massive riding. He needs to do that starting now.
13) Pat Pimm was our MLA up here for many years, a yes man without much ambition or substance. He was plagued with personal issues, was made a laughing stock many times but was elected over and over. [SMH] When he retired, Dan & Fort St John Mayor @lori_ackerman vied for the spot
14) I would have liked to see new blood step up, someone with a greener eye than these 2. Dan was successful and Ms. Ackerman remains our mayor. I don't mind that, she's smart & savvy, she would have done much more damage given the chance seeing how hard she shills for O&G.
15) Dan shills for O&G too, he just isn't as, let's say, dedicated to it. He doesn't seem to to be involved in the decision making for our region either. He just humps along, collecting a cheque and hiding behind his party while Petronas builds illegal dams behind his back.
16) The moral of the story is we're going backwards, not forward, with environmental protections and we can actually be grateful for uninspired, superficial, shallow representatives.
