Alberta boom's cruel paradox - Dean Bennett, Canadian Press
THE DOWNSIDE - Homeless newcomers, kids doing dangerous jobs, packed hospitals
Alberta is forecasting a labour shortage of up to 80,000 workers in less than a decade.
Drive the deteriorating serpentine two-lane corridor of Highway 63 to Fort McMurray and your car narrowly misses oncoming semi-trailers, trucks and wide-loads laden with oilfield storage tanks. It's known as a death highway with scores of accidents and fatalities. Two oilfield workers died recently when a logging truck spilled its load, piercing their oncoming minivan.
During the first quarter of 2006, there were 25,900 more people in Alberta, the highest first-quarter increase yet. In Calgary, where the population hit the one-million mark last month, 100 newcomers arrive daily.
Developers nail up 50 new homes a day but can't keep up. The average house price is $400,000 for a basic model.
Oilsands boom overwhelming Fort McMurray: mayor - ctv.ca
Blake, the mayor of the Wood Buffalo municipality at the heart of Alberta's exploding oilsands development, said Monday the provincial government and the energy industry must start paying to mitigate the impact in the Fort McMurray area or consider putting on the brakes.
Klein pushes security of energy supply to U.S. - ctv.ca
Several U.S. legislators agreed with Klein, and said increased oil production in the province's oil sands will mean more oil for America.
Klein slams Gore comments attacking Alta. oilsands - ctv.ca
Klein has stirred controversy in the past by rejecting scientific data suggesting industrial pollution is one of the leading causes of global warming.
He has even said global warming trends that occurred millions of years ago may have been caused by 'dinosaur farts.'