Stay ConnectedCOMMONS is a documentary podcast that proves Canada is anything but boring. Each season, host Arshy Mann guides you through the country’s dark underbelly, bringing you stories about crime, corruption and all manner of misdeeds.
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Copyright: © 2022 CANADALAND
Ever get the feeling someone is watching you? If you’ve been to an environmental protest recently, you might be right. Private intelligence firms, the RCMP and even Canada’s spies have all been caught collecting information on everyday Canadians speaking out against the oil industry.
Featured in this episode: Ron Tremblay (Wolostoq Grand Council), Mike De Souza (National Observer), Meghan McDermott (BC Civil Liberties Association)
To learn more:
“Spies in our midst: RCMP and CSIS snoop on green activists” by Bruce Livesey in National Observer
“The Private Intelligence Firm Keeping Tabs on Environmentalists” by Adam Federman in Mother Jones
“Kinder Morgan privately eyes Trans Mountain opponents” by Alastair Sharp & Dylan Waisman in National Observer
“The feds paid private eye to hunt for a journalist's sources” by Mike De Souza in National Observer
Additional music:
“A List of Ways to Die” by Lee Rosevere, adapted.
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In the past few weeks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was loudly booed at the Raptors' victory parade, demoted a bunch of star members of his Cabinet amid sagging poll numbers and lost his Chief of Staff, who got caught up in a nepotism scandal.
Are we witnessing the downfall of a government, or is this just another month in Ontario?
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Has Canada been a casualty of a nefarious campaign by foreign-funded radicals to landlock our country’s energy resources? Is Big Oil the victim of a vast international conspiracy? Naaaah. But there is, as always, another conspiracy afoot.
Featured in this episode: Markham Hislop (Energi Media)
Here's what Vivian Krause has said in response to Markham Hislop's piece.
To learn more:
“Debunked: Vivian Krause’s Tar Sands Campaign conspiracy narrative” by Markham Hislop in Energi Media.
“Alberta Premier Singled Out Environmentalist. Death Threats Followed” by Samantha Beattie in HuffPost
“Conservative politicians, oil executives map out strategy for ousting federal Liberals in growing collaboration” by Jeff Lewis & Shawn McCarthy in The Globe and Mail
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Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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An unspeakable tragedy occurs off the coast of Newfoundland. But this isn’t just a story about a nautical disaster. It’s about what happens when a poor province finds immense riches just within reach. And how the promise of oil wealth can twist history around itself.
Featured in this episode: Susan Dodd, Danny O’Brien, Sean Cadigan
ADDITIONAL MUSIC CREDITS: "Seeker" and "Scenery" by Kai Engel, adapted
To learn more:
The Ocean Ranger: Remaking the Promise of Oil by Susan Dodd
Rig: An Oral History of the Ocean Ranger Disaster by Mike Heffernan
“The Ranger Disaster” by CBC’s The Fifth Estate
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The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster was a calamity like we’ve never seen before. The families of the victims never got justice. But the conditions that made it possible have barely changed. And the next time could be far worse.
Featured in this episode: Bruce Campbell, Dylan Robertson (Winnipeg Free Press)
To learn more:
The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied by Bruce Campbell.
“Alberta Crisis, Winnipeg Danger” by Dylan Robertson in the Winnipeg Free Press
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What happens when the oil wells run dry? Environmental damage, government bailouts and a scheme that some are comparing to the subprime mortgage crisis. And all of this is just the beginning.
Featured in this episode: Sharon J. Riley (The Narwhal), Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail), Alana Bartol (Orphan Well Adoption Agency), Herman, Shirley and Mark Dorin.
To learn more:
Hustle in the oil patch: Inside a looming financial and environmental crisis by Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang, Renata D’Aliesio in the Globe and Mail.
The story of Alberta’s $100-billion well liability problem. How did we get here? By Sharon J. Riley in The Narwhal
‘Forgotten and ignored’ An Alberta couple fights a leaky oil well by Alannah Page in National Observer.
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The Alberta oil sands. It’s a cold patch of land (which we once almost nuked into oblivion) that’s become Canada’s economic engine. Governments have fought over it for decades. And now it’s one of the most controversial places on the planet. Will it finally tear our politics apart?
Featured in this episode: Mary Janigan, Chris Turner
To learn more:
Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark by Mary Janigan
The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands by Chris Turner
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A family poisoned in their homes. Bombs going off in the night. Shots fired and inside jobs. The story of Wiebo Ludwig is There Will Be Blood come to life. So was he a man of faith facing down the full might of Big Oil? Or a terrorist with blood on his hands?
Featured in this episode: David York (Wiebo’s War), Levi Ludwig
To learn more:
Saboteurs: Wiebo Ludwig’s War Against Big Oil by Andrew Nikiforuk
Wiebo’s War by David York
“Adventures in Wieboland” by Brian Bergman in Maclean’s.
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If you don’t understand oil, you can’t understand Canada. We take you to a place unlike anywhere else in the world, where the booms and busts all began. And find out why just a short distance away, children grow up afraid of the very air they breathe.
Featured in this episode: Pat McGee and Charlie Fairbank (Fairbank Oil Properties), Vanessa Gray.
To learn more:
“Time stands still in oil industry's birthplace” in the Toronto Star by Murray White.
“Canada’s Toxic Secret: A troubling trend of leaks and spills in the Sarnia area” in Global News
“The Chemical Valley” In VICE by Patrick McGuire
CLARIFICATION: In the episode, we credit the Price of Oil series to the the Toronto Star, National Observer and Global News. The collaborative investigation also involved Concordia University, Ryerson University School of Journalism, the University of Regina, UBC, The Corporate Mapping Project and the Michener Awards Foundation.
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Last season Commons covered corruption in Canada. This time around we're talking about Canada's relationship with the oil industry. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the weird.
Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com
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