CALGARY -- An anti-oilsands protest will take place in downtown Calgary Wednesday morning and it could get tense with a pro-energy group holding a counter-rally of its own.
Extinction Rebellion, an environmental group, is scheduled to protest from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside Teck Resources Ltd., 205 9 Avenue S.E., in strong opposition of the Teck Frontier mine, just north of Fort McMurray.
Members of the non-partisan, pro-pipeline group Canada Action will also stand their ground to show their support for federal approval of the project.
If approved, the Teck Frontier mine could potentially produce up to 260 thousand barrels of oil per day and about four million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year for more than 40 years. That amount equates to an additional 20 per cent of Canada’s oils sands emissions over the next three decades and would pose a significant obstacle towards the Liberals’ goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The $20.6 billion open pit petroleum mine is 292 square kilometres — more than twice the size of Vancouver — and was already conditionally approved by the federal provincial review panel in July of 2019.
The project itself is expected to create 7,000 jobs, including 2,500 long-term positions and generate around $70 billion in government revenue over its lifespan.
Vancouver-based Teck Frontier has also done extensive consultations with Indigenous communities since 2008 to hear concerns regarding the impacts of the project on treaty rights and has now received the approval of 14 First Nations and Metis groups in the region.
The Trudeau government must make a decision on the mine’s approval under the Environmental Assessment Act by the end of February.
