Impacts of oil sands extraction on Aboriginal communities in northern Alberta

Conférence prononcée par Clinton Westman, assistant professor in Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan

Résumé :

 I will provide background on current political and scientific debates and processes in Alberta's oil sands zone, with a focus on issues and impacts most relevant to Aboriginal communities in the region. Methodologically, I am drawing on ethnographic fieldwork experience in the region, policy and media analysis, and intensive study of 10 impact assessment documents for major oil sands projects. Analysis of impact assessment documents allows for both synthesis of speech data from impacted elders, hunters, and trappers, and analysis of the corporate/consulting metadiscourse that shapes these public documents. I assert that impact assessment documents and consultation processes tend to minimize or even undermine informants' discussion of subjective and objective impacts, while focusing on the inevitability of energy development. I will draw conclusions about the effectiveness of existing environmental assessment processes, the role of social science in impact assessment and consultation, and the effects of recent changes in Canada's laws and policies on environmental assessment.

Conférence prononcée en anglais, aucune réservation nécessaire - Entrée libre