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2010
NOVEMBER 25
DECEMBER 1
www.theontarion.com
1 6 3 . 1 1
Can the mining sector help the planet?
K
inross Gold Corporation,a Canadian gold miningcompany, has donated $1million to the EnvironmentalGovernance program todevelop the Kinross Chair inEnvironmental Governance – aknowledge exchange position that will be flled by high-profle feldexperts on a rolling basis. Te gitis part o the BetterPlanet Project(BPP), chaired by CEO o Kinross, ye Burt. Te BPP is an ambitiousundraising campaign initiated by the University o Guelph to raise$200 million to help improvethe quality o ood, environment,health and communities bothlocally and abroad. Te donation has evoked many positive reactions rom university administration and aculty. Dr. BenBradshaw, Program Coordinatoro Environmental Governance atthe U o G, is excited about thefnancial support coming rom thecompany and is looking orward
Debate ignites over the BetterPlanet Project’s involvement with Kinross GoldCorporation
KELSEY RIDEOUto seeing the donation create aunique learning opportunity orstudents.“Every three years they’llbe enough interest [rom thedonation] to pay or a proessional who can come rom industry,rom government rom non-governmental organizations oran academic who happens to bedoing really applied work to cometo the university or a period o about our months, to engage with the university community,deliver lectures, develop a researchproposal with aculty and broadercommunity and that’ll be a new person every three years with anew ocus,” said Bradshaw. While the topic o mining andthe environment will be explored with the donation, Kinross willhave no involvement in directly selecting the individuals who fllthe chair position.“Probably the frst and evensecond chair will be a mining-related one, because when adonor gives money they havecertain expectations around that.It’s understandable that they’dlike to see some real knowledgechallenges tackled in the miningsector, but they’ve made it very clear that they’re supporting thisindependently…It’s our AssociateDean Academic, Dr. BelindaLeach, who will be chairing thecommittee that basically willbe charged with managing thisgit and its use, which includesidentiying themes or the chairand then identiying candidatesand helping to get a good candidateto come,” said Bradshaw. While many are celebratingthe git rom Kinross, there areconcerns rom the student body over whether accepting a largedonation rom the world’s ourthlargest mining company is o ethical integrity.“I eel this is a way or Kinrossto say, ‘We are helping to makea better planet,’ and or theUniversity o Guelph to give themthat opportunity. I think our job is
Feeling your way to changing the world
M
ost days, it is hard notto eel like a hypocrite. You buy air tradecoee, but you dispose o your cup. You protest against environmentalexploitation, yet you’re dressedhead to toe with clothes own inrom China. You try to conserveas much as possible, but are orced
Local environmentalist hosts workshop on ‘Te Work that Reconnects,’a movement to combat apathy while developing a deep respect for theearth
KELSEY RIDEOUto swallow the discomort that lastnight’s take-out Styrooam waste will be in a landfll ar longer than your grand children and greatgrand children could ever hopeto live or. You may fnd yoursel with your hands over your head, wandering around in a ft whiledebating to i there’s anythingin this greed-sunken, pollution-ridden world that you can actually help to change? Maybe a certain seto ideologies could be o assistance. Te Work that Reconnects is amovement that asks you to eel,and more that that, to understand, what that fre in your belly really means. Te movement was initiatedby renowned spiritual leader Joanna Macy, and according toher website “was created to helppeople uncover and experiencetheir innate connections witheach other and with the systemic,sel-healing powers in the webo lie, so that they may beenlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainablecivilization.” Sally Ludwig, co-ounder o ransition Guelph isa trained acilitator o Te Work that Reconnects. Ludwig held a workshop in Guelph to urtherexplore ‘Te Work.’Ludwig examined Macy’s moreliteral and unique understandingo the word ‘apathy.’“Joanna Macy talks about theGreek word or apathy, which is‘
apathea’
and it goes beyond apathy into the sense really o reusing toeel, and she teaches that that’s oneo the most damaging eatures o our lie in our society.”Ludwig urther described theall-too-oten tendency to becomeemotionless in the wake o crisis.“I we don’t acknowledge those[eelings] and recognize whatthey’re connected to, which is how much we care about lie on earthand other living beings and their well-being, then sort o a paralysissets in. It becomes easier just tobelieve that we can do nothing,and so not even think about it. And
see “RECONNECTS,”page 5see “MINING,” page 3
HOCKEY
MOVIES
HAMLET
CLIMATE
CHANGE
L O CA L
D J s
PA G E 1 2
Creatures, real and imaginary, populated the annual Guelph Santa Claus Parade last Sunday, Nov. 21.
Megan Verhey
N e w V i n y l n o w i n s t o c k !
BON JOVI - GREATEST HITSTAYLOR SWIFT - SPEAK NOWSUSAN BOYLE - GIFTVARIOUS ARTISTS - MUCH DANCE 2011KID CUDI - MAN ON THE MOON 2JAMES BLUNT - SOME KIND OF TROUBLEANNIE VILLENEUVE - NOEL CHEZ MOIKINGS OF LEON - COME AROUND SUNDOWNJOHNNY REID - PLACE CALLED LOVEELVIS PRESLEY - VIVA ELVIS1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.
Top 10 Albums of This Week
www.beatgoeson.com
3
Nov. 25 - Dec. 1, 2010
.com
News
Pat Burns Dies at Age 58
On Friday, Nov. 26 ater along battle with cancer, ormerNHL coach, Pat Burns, died inSherbrooke, Que. Burns was acoach in the NHL or 14 yearsand was the only person inhistory to win three Jack Adams rophies as the NHL coach o the year. He served as coacho the Montreal Canadiens, the oronto Maple Leas, the BostonBruins and the New Jersey Devils; in 2003 Burns led theDevils to Stanley Cup victory.Burns will be missed and ondly remembered by members o theNHL community and hockey ans alike.CBC
Harry Potter and the DeathlyHallows: Part One
DominatesBox Ofce
he beginning o the end o the
Harry Potter
movie serieshappened in movie theatresaround the world this weekend with the debut o Harry Potterand the Deathly Hallows: PartOne; Part wo is set to openin July. he ilm’s world-wideincome or its opening weekendtotalled approximately $330.1million with $125.1 millionbeing earned domestically. heleading overseas market wasGreat Britain where the ilmearned $28 million. In the4,125 theatres where the ilm was shown domestically, theatresaveraged an income o $30,332rom screening the Potter ilm.CBC
Rogers May be Subject to FineOver Misleading Ads
On Friday, the CompetitionBureau announced that it isseeking a $10 million penalty on Rogers CommunicationsInc. in regards to Rogers’advertisements o having ewerdropped calls than competitors. his comes at the conclusion o an investigation by the bureau which declared that the adsare misleading. Rogers plansto deend itsel and also claimsthat testing across the country validates the ads. his is notthe irst time that Rogers hasbeen in hot water over itsadvertising. Last year Rogers was taken to court by elus overadvertisements claiming thatRogers had the most reliablenetwork in Canada.CBCCompiled by Kirsti Juurakko
Still hope or caribou amidst Alberta’s oil andgas development
here may be a way tohelp protect decliningcaribou herds in Albertaaccording to University o Albertaproessor, Dr. Stan Boutin. Aspart o a series o lectures run by the Department o IntegrativeBiology, Boutin led a seminar onNov. 16 entitled ‘Conservation andAlberta Oil Sands: Is there any hope?’ Boutin explained that withthe strategic placement o protectedcaribou habitat zones, there isan opportunity to protect a largenumber o caribou or a relatively low cost. Te woodland caribou is athreatened species throughoutAlberta and Canada and is inserious trouble in many areas due todecreasing populations. Alberta’spopulation consists o about 3000animals divided into 12 herds. Teirability to survive is being constantly challenged.“We have pretty reasonableconfdence that these populationsare dropping, and it looks like ata airly catastrophic rate,” saidBoutin. Te main cause o Alberta’sdeclining caribou population seemsto be wol predation.“Tere is a major change inthe spatial overlap o [wolves]and caribou, relative to what we
Alberta pro comes toGuelph to talk about protecting a threatenedanimal
CODY KUPFERSCHMIDsaw back in the early to mid 90s,”said Boutin. But this problemis not necessarily a natural one.Oil and gas development may bedirectly linked to increases in wol predation.Oil and gas companies otencut exploratory paths known asseismic lines through orested areas,and wolves can travel on theselines about three times aster than walking through the orest. Boutincalls these lines “travel highways”or predators. He compared the useo these routes to human travel. “I you want to walk quickly throughan area, you get on a trail and away you go. So do these guys.”Examination o wol behaviourconfrmed that wolves are oundnear these seismic lines ar moreoten than would be expected by chance. While caribou tended toavoid going within 100 metres o the lines, their mortality levels werehigher when closest to them. With wol populationmanagement and by establishingprotected areas, Boutin eelsthat within 20 years the astestrecovering caribou herds may even be sel-sustaining. Tiscould be possible through hisunique approach to establishingprotected areas.Boutin suggests money shouldbe spent where it can protect thegreatest number o caribou. Heexplained that rom an economicalstandpoint, the number o caribou we can protect depends on therelative cost o the caribou’s habitat.Using computer models to
Courtesy
optimize the location o protectedareas based on a number o parameters including cost, Boutindiscovered striking results. Basedon one o his models, or aboutthree per cent o the net present value o the total land area, it ispossible to protect about 50 percent o Alberta’s caribou.Rather than ocusingconservation eorts on protectingprime oil and gas sector land,his computer model establishesprotected conservation zones inareas where land is less expensive. Tis includes placing protectedareas on land dominated by orestry rather than the energy sector.“Basically, we go nowhere near theoil sands,” emphasized Boutin.Boutin’s fndings add somepossibility to resolving a majorconservation problem, even amongstthe insistent development o the tarsands. “o me, it gives some hope,”said Boutin o his work. Te problem o the decline in thecaribou population needs actionand attention. As Boutin madeclear, it’s not worth giving up.to critique Kinross Gold, tocritique mining in Canada… You can’t just buy environmentalsustainability. You can’t justbuy sustainability in one aspect while you’re mining our planet. Tat’s not how it works,” saidDenise Martins, Central StudentAssociation External AairsCommissioner.Fourth-year InternationalDevelopment Student, WarrenDodd, is also apprehensive aboutthe donation. Dodd’s worry stemsrom his own personal involvement with a mining community abroad.“I am uneasy about the $1million donation to the U o G Environmental Governancedepartment or the developmento a new chair position,” saidDodd. “Although I see the valueand need or mining and I usedevices that are built with minedsubstances, I am conscious o theenvironmental degradation andmarginalization o the poor thatis too oten synonymous withmining practices by Canadiancompanies abroad. I have seen frsthand the destruction o the naturalenvironment and the displacementand intimidation o amilies at thehands o Glamis Gold Limited, which is part o Goldcorp Inc., aCanadian company in San Marcos,Guatemala.”Bradshaw acknowledgesthe uncertainties that somestudents may have, but remainsadamant that in order to changeenvironmental conditions, it’simportant to connect withcompanies like Kinross. “We can’t just pretend [mining companies]don’t exist and by protest say ‘Wedo not support you’ and yet withour wallets purchase items thatsupport the industry. I would arrather see us get engaged and becritical.”Chuck Cunningham, Directoro Communications & PublicAairs at the U o G, deendsKinross’ environmental andsocial platorms and assures theuniversity community that theU o G would not partner with acompany who has poor standardsin these two realms.“Kinross Gold is internationally recognized or its environmentalresearch and education programs,and its leadership in resourcemanagement and commitmentto social responsibility andsustainability. Te university only accepts gits that are consistent with its mission and that do notcompromise our undamentalprinciples, including promotingacademic reedom. We are guidedby U o G policy when acceptinggits,” said Cunningham.But keeping in line withuniversity policy may not makethis issue any less controversial.Along with other Canadianmining companies, Kinrossopposed Bill C-300, which wouldhave given Ottawa the ability toinvestigate questionable activitieso Canadian resource companiesabroad. Te bill was recently struck down in Parliament in a close voteo 140-134.“Te opposition to Bill C-300by Kinross is troubling becauseit indicates to me that theiroperations abroad may havesomething to hide…” said Dodd. “Iunderstand that this [donation] isa great deal o money, which couldbe positively used to support thedevelopment o improved miningpractices, yet I am not convincedthat mining and ‘sustainability,’ inthe holistic sense o the word, willever compliment each other.”
“MINING,” continued
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