The oil and gas industry accounts for less than 10% of Canada’s GDP but the deleterious effects of the political power wielded by the industry is felt across the country. Evidence of the struggle between industry and citizens can be seen in areas such as Aboriginal rights, environmental policy, labour law, women’s equity, and more. All of these areas are important to democratic structures and the contributors to Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada argue that oil has weakened the structures that govern this country.
Here, we present five ideas from the book to give you something to think about before October 19th.
- Why do we call them oil sands and not tar sands? Explore the history of this contested terminology in Chapter 3 by Peter (Jay) Smith
- In 2013, the Energy Resources Conservation Board, which was funded by both government and industry, was replaced by an industry-funded regulator. Find out how this has affected the development of oil in Alberta in Chapter 4 by Lorna Stefanick.
- How are migrant workers targeted by a systematized form of racism at the hands of the government? Jason Foster and Bob Barnetson explore this question in Chapter 9.
- In 2014, women in Alberta were paid only 63 percent of the earnings of their male counterparts. Joy Fraser, Manijeh Mannani, and Lorna Stefanick report on why this is happening in their chapter on women’s equality (Chapter 6).
- The government allows industry to degrade treaty land without the consent of Aboriginal peoples. If democracy rests on consent of the governed, why does this continue? Read more about this in Chapter 7 by Gabrielle Slowey and Lorna Stefanick.
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