As an independent documentary filmmaker I have made some fifteen films dealing with social, political and environmental issues. Previously I was a television and radio producer. I was born in Sweden in 1948, immigrated to Canada in 1970. I live with Jocelyne and our daughter Béthièle in Montreal, and my older daughter Anna lives in Toronto.
« …un super film qui donne le goût de vieillir dans la délinquance! » Paul Houde (Montréal Maintenant, 98,5 FM)
Mon film LES SUPER-MÉMÉS, sur les Raging Grannies et les Mémés déchainées, a été lancé en tant de film de clôture du Festival de films sur les droits de la personne en mars 2010. Cet été, il y a plusieurs projections du film en plein air dans le cadre de Cinéma sous les étoiles, et la télédiffusion aura lieu la fin de semaine qui vient.
Cinéma sous les étoiles est une excellente initiative des Productions Funambule, la compagnie de mes jeunes collègues Santiago Bertolino et Steve Patry. Cet été, ils organisent une douzaine de projections dans des parcs dans différents quartiers à Montréal. Parmi les films montrés il y en a plusieurs dont j’ai déjà parlé sur ce blogue, sur Gérald Godin et Omar Khadr notamment.
Il y a quelques semaines, j’ai assisté à une projection des SUPER-MÉMÉS dans le Parc Laurier. Il y avait 80 personnes, et les Mémés étaient sur place pour chanter et discuter après le film.
I first saw one of his films in 2000, when we both had films in competition at the Cinéma du Réel festival at Beaubourg in Paris. His film The Land of Wandering Souls, about the laying of optical cables through Cambodia, featured the encounter beteen modern globalized technology and medieval working conditions. It very deservedly took home the main award.
Unlike his own parents who died of starvation in a camp, Panh is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide of the early ‘70’s. His entire oeuvre is marked by varying degrees of sadness and despair about the human condition.
The same goes for his own discourse: he speaks of ‘un travail de mémoire’ – not a duty to remember, but a choice – one could choose to forget. It’s just work to be done, if you choose to do it. He speaks as if there was nowhere to hide and no use pretending.
The filmmaker also needs to face up to his dilemmas: there is an obvious risk of voyeurism, of taking advantage of people. Like every other activity, it’s fragile and perilous.
This time I was particularly struck by Panh’s 2007 film Le Papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise, about a group of young female prostitutes who share a house in Phnom Penh. The film is unbelievably sad, as the young women grapple with illness, unwanted pregnancies, violence and poverty.
The aesthetics of the film are striking: it’s all shot ‘verite’ in the sense that Panh just observes and captures moments of their life. But at the same time every image is carefully crafted, with just the right angle and framing.
How did he achieve this? I wondered. He explained that it was all a matter of patience. Being there for many months, shooting the same kinds of scenes many times over, and carefully selecting just the right shots – out of 300 hours of rushes – in the editing.
Thanks to Tobi Elliott for her help with this blog.
A Wapikoni mobile production unit. Photo from http://wapikoni.tv
For the last eight years, an exceptional and pioneering media experience has given new means of expression and a sense of hope to aboriginal youth on reserves in Quebec.
The Wapikonimobile is a mobile video production unit – or rather three of them – travelling from community to community, providing video training and supervising the making of short films. For youngsters confronted with substance abuse, an epidemic of suicides and an almost complete lack of job prospects, this was an extraordinary opportunity, and they took advantage of it. Some 2000 of them learned production skills, and made some 450 films expressing their own realities. Some of those films had real cinematic qualities and were shown in festivals here and abroad.
But now, the federal Department of Human Resources has cancelled its half-million dollar grant, about half of the Wapikonimobile’s total budget– at a time when the production units should already have been on the road. Young people in numerous communities who have been looking forward to this experience for a whole year now find themselves without anything to do for the summer and without the means for expressing themselves. For what reason? Because, according to the minister, other projects offer better prospects for creating jobs and teaching skills.
Quebec’s excellent daily Le Devoir, which broke the Wapikonimobile story yesterday, has another story today (July 19th) revealing that the arts and the community and aboriginal sectors are hard hit by other little publicized Human Resources cutbacks as well. This is surely a sign of where things are going under the majority conservative government.
Could there be more urgent needs than those of aboriginal youth? Hardly. The founder and director of Wapikonimobile, filmmaker Manon Barbeau, is campaigning to have the department change its decision. I wish her the best of luck in this extremely worthwhile endeavour.
Manon Barbeau with well-known Attikamekw rapper Samian, whose career started with a Wapikonimobile training program. Photo: Luc Lavigne, Radio-Canada.ca
Thanks to Tobi Elliott for her help with this blog.
Danny Raymond est un jeune homme intelligent qui a des talents de ‘leader.’ Il est plein de projets, mais il ne sait pas comment les réaliser. Ayant vécu dans des foyers de groupe et des familles d’accueil pendant une bonne partie de sa jeunesse, il a beaucoup manqué d’encadrement. Il a décroché de l’école avant de finir son secondaire parce qu’il ne se sentait pas accepté et n’étais pas motivé. Il vit encore chez sa mère qui a déjà été contorsionniste au cirque, alors que son père – qu’il voit maintenant quelques fois par année – était clown avant de devenir plombier.
Danny vient d’avoir 18 ans. Il a récemment été accepté pour un projet au Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi. Danny adore la musique et il participe activement à Musique X, un projet communautaire que nous avons suivi depuis ses débuts. Il adore aussi faire de la bicyclette. Les amis sont très importants pour lui, et nous les filmons souvent ensemble.
Michael Stiverne est venu d’Haïti avec son père lorsqu’il avait 10 ans, alors que sa mère est restée là-bas. Le père, chauffeur de taxi au centre-ville, l’a laissé se débrouiller seul et s’occuper de son jeune frère Mickerson. A 22 ans Michael est un jeune homme responsable et motivé, qui a été très apprécié au programme ‘2e Chance’ des Fourchettes de l’Espoir, un organisme communautaire.
Mais il n’a pas toujours été si sage: plus jeune il a été inculpé pour possession d’armes, vols de voitures et trafic de drogue, et il en paye maintenant le prix. Il passe ses fins de semaine en prison, et le restant du temps à se chercher un emploi. Ce qui, pour un jeune noir de Montréal-Nord avec un casier judiciaire n’est pas facile!
Il passe des entrevues de manière assidue, et les employeurs potentiels promettent de le rappeler – mais ne le font presque jamais. Mikerson, 18 ans, a été mis dehors de son école parce qu’il ‘causait du trouble,’ mais comme son frère il est très motivé et essaye de s’en sortir. Il compose de la musique et il chante.
L’absence des parents l’a beaucoup fait souffrir, et il exprime cette douleur de façon touchante. Dans le film nous le verrons notamment raconter l’histoire de sa vie sous forme de rap.
Alexandre Bryson, 17 ans: ‘La violence, la drogue, les coups de feu, j’ai connu ça très jeune, ça ne m’intimide pas,’ dit Alex. Il a grandi à Pointe-aux-Trembles, parfois chez son père, parfois chez sa mère. Ils déménageaient souvent, et au primaire, il a souvent changé d’école. Dès sa jeune enfance, sa mère – d’origine MicMac- est devenue dépendante de la drogue et s’est même prostituée. A l’âge de 12 ans – le jour de son anniversaire – Alex est parti vivre avec son père. Mais lorsque celui-ci est parti travailler en Alberta, Alex s’est retrouvé en foyer d’accueil.
Alex a aimé l’école, et il avait de bons résultats au secondaire, mais l’instabilité de sa vie familiale l’a amené à décrocher après la deuxième année. Il a pris de la drogue, mais l’exemple de son frère ainé qui est accro et qui a fait de la prison l’a convaincu de laisser tomber. La personne qui l’a le plus influencé, en lui disant ‘tu vaux plus que ça’ c’est sa grand-mère paternelle – qu’il aime beaucoup, mais qu’il admet négliger.
Alex est maintenant de retour chez son père, à Bois-des-Filion. Mais il passe souvent du temps à Montréal-Nord. Intelligent et articulé, Alex passe surtout son temps à improviser du rap, ce qu’il fait très bien, seul ou avec des amis. Il a eu 18 ans le 12 juin 2011. Il a été accepté par le programme Katimavik, et ira passer 6 mois à l’Île du prince Edouard et en Ontario à partir de juin.
My friend Stefan Nitoslawski recently launched a film Liberty, Equality, Accommodation on a topic which is quite hot both in Quebec and elsewhere: ‘accomodement raisonnable,’ or the measures different bodies in society have to take to ensure peaceful coexistance and mutual respect betwen peoples and communities. Stefan followed the hearings Bouchard-Taylor Commission, co-chaired by the philosopher Charles Taylor, as well as some very interesting characters.
The views of the small-time politicians from Hérouxville are counterposed to those of two strong-minded muslim women. This film – produced by Paul Lapointe – deals with a topic which is covered in the press daily. But no broadcaster showed interest, and Stefan and Paul had to finish it with their own means. A sign of the times? I asked Stefan a few questions.
You have worked with many directors and observed them at work while at the same time making your contribution to the film as a DOP, as well as directing your own films. How is one different from the other?
For me wearing the directors hat or the DPs is very different. As director, I find that I’m juggling with may more aspects of the film. Content and structure are my focus but I also have to think of schedules, crew, relationships with the characters, research, budget, etc. Consequently, I’m thinking in broader terms and of many different aspects of the production. This is a challenge for me, as I find I have to think wide and then focus quickly on a specific task such as how to capture a given scene.
As DP, the focus is on the image and supporting the director and crew in getting the material needed for the film. It’s a more contained function. On this documentary I was often alone with my camera and sometimes I felt I was juggling too much but at others I felt a certain freedom to capture what I felt was important quickly and simply.
What were the main challenges? (idem)
The main challenge was that the film received no financing. We received some support from rental houses, post production facilities and the ACIC program at the NFB for which I’m very grateful. Nonetheless this put a limit on what we could do in production and in editing and put a huge strain on the producer Paul Lapointe, the editor Carole Alain and myself. This film could not have existed if it were not for their dedicated commitment and belief that this is an essential film to make. It is the only film made about the Bouchard-Taylor Commission which is one of the important stepping stones in our society since the Quiet Revolution.
How do you see the contribution of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission ?
The value of the Commission is that it gave people the opportunity to learn about issues surrounding the notion of reasonable accommodation and express themselves about their identity, be it coming from the perspective of the majority or of the minority. The basic issue was how to find common ground between religious minorities and the secular majority. A potentially explosive subject. The Commission showed that we can tackle very difficult debates expressing what we think while taking time to listen to the other. I believe that this remarkable example of participatory democracy and the maturity of our society.
How did the discussion go after the screening in Quebec City, and what did Quebec Solidaire’s Amir Khadir ( a leftist) and the PQ’s Louise Beaudoin ( a nationalist) have to say ?
The discussion with Amir Khadir and Louise Beaudoin was fascinating. They both underlined the importance of the film in showing that the citizens were concerned and engaged in the debate and yet the government did not followed suit in creating a White Paper on secularism. Both Louise and Amir are on the parliamentary committee for Bill 94 (about ostentatious symbols in the public administration) and both feel that the discussions in this committee are endless and would have benefited from a clearer direction from the National Assembly. Furthermore, Louise Beaudoin said that she felt somewhat reconciled with Bouchard after having seen the film. I felt that was telling.
What have been the main issues in the discussions after the film ?
The discussions after the film were very interesting. On one hand, many of the concerns that were expressed during the commission came up again which signaled to me that these questions are still very much on peoples minds. But I also feel that there is an evolution. People are much more aware of the issues and have a clearer point of view. I also feel that after having seen the film, people recognize that, as a society, we have successfully carried out a challenging debate of which they can be proud of.
For more information on the documentary “Liberté, égalité, accommodements” please visit the Facebook page here.
MAGNUS:
Le contexte de production du documentaire est difficile, les fenêtres de diffusion et opportunités de financement se font rares. Dans ce contexte, les bourses de carrière du CALQ sont fort apprécieés. Nous sommes honorés d’avoir l’occasion de rendre hommage à Garry, un collègue inspirant et prolifique. J’ai l’impression que chaque année il sort un nouveau film, film qui raconte toujours une histoire touchante qui nous fait réfléchir sur la condition humaine.
HELENE:
À la fin des années 80, quand je suis arrivée à Montréal de Toronto, j’ai très vite entendu parler de Gary, ce grand cinéaste anglophone qui a exploré toute la richesse culturelle du Québec. Enraciné dans la culture anglophone et la communauté juive, Gary est aussi parfaitement bilingue et amoureux de la culture francophone de Montréal. En tant que cinéaste engagé, Gary a été un modèle pour moi.
MAGNUS:
Durant trente années, Garry a documenté des rencontres passionnantes entre des individus qui représentent différentes communautés, différentes sensibilités et différents points de vue. Des individus qui – comme Garry lui-même – tentent de construire des ponts et trouver un terrain commun, un langage commun.
Il a documenté des rencontres entre jeunes et personnes âgées – dans par exempleLivraisons Aigre-Douces…
entre citoyens de souche et nouveaux arrivés – comme dans Aller-Retour ou Asylum.
Entre juifs et non-juifs – Helene vous mentionnera plusieurs titres –
Entre Anglophones et Francophones – comme dans Rien de Sacré…
Ces rencontres, il les documente toujours avec beaucoup de respect, avec de la compassion, avec un sens de l’humour. Ses films nous font découvrir des voisins que nous ne connaissions pas, ou pas asssez, et de comprendre les défis auxquels ils font face.
Je trouve ses films sur les gens qui sont gravement malades et sur les gens qui tentent de les aider maintenir une dignité et à donner un sens à la vie très touchants.
Ses films ajoutent des couches de profondeur à des gens et des lieux que nous pensions connaître. En voyant ses films nous nous aperçevons que cette connaissance était superficielle et qu’il y avait bien plus à savoir, sur le restaurant smoked meat a coin de la rue, sur l’artiste local que nous avions entendu à la radio, ou sur les caricaturistes des principaux quotidiens – anglais et français bien évidemment, qui nous font rire et réfléchir tous les jours.
Les films de Garry sont appréciés sur les écrans, grands ou petits, ici et ailleurs. Ils enrichissent notre mémoire collective, et demeurent pertinentes pour des années, voir des décennies, après leur sortie.
HELENE:
Garry s’est intéressé dans ses films à des communautés, à des individus en transition et à des artistes. Des films qui sont merveilleux.
Il a aussi fait vivre à l’écran la communauté juive du Québec dans toute sa diversité. Dans Bonjour! Shalom!, il a posé un regard sur les rapports parfois tendus, parfois harmonieux entre les juifs hassidiques et leurs voisins francophones et non religieux. Ma chère Clara raconte une histoire d’amour juive qui se déroule pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale à Montréal, en Pologne et en Russie.
Chez Schwartznous fait pénétrer dans l’univers multiethnique des personnages et Socalled, le film, nous fait découvrir un artiste qui fusionne la musique traditionnelle klezmer, le hiphop et le funk. À plusieurs reprises, la communauté juive de Montréal a honoré Garry pour son travail et pour sa contribution humaniste.
En yiddish, une autre langue que Gary possède, on dirait de lui qu’il est un véritable « mensch », c’est à dire un être humain d’exception.Toutes mes félicitations Gary.
Merci a Tobi Elliott pour son aide avec le blogue.
The poster for one of Garry Beitel's films, 'Bonjour! Shalom! the relationship between Hassidic Jews in Montreal's Outremont district and their French-Québécois neighbours.
MAGNUS: These career grants are announced at a time when the kind of work Garry does is severely threatened because of cutbacks and policy changes. We need people like him, courageous long distance runners who can help maintain the documentary genre. We are honoured to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Garry, a creatively inspiring colleague with an impressive track record, and a filmmaker with inexhaustible energy and drive. Every year, Garry has a new film out, with a touching and thought-provoking story to tell.
HELENE: When I moved from Toronto to Montreal in the late eighties, it didn’t take me long to hear about Garry – this great Anglophone filmmaker who was making films about subjects that reflected Quebec’s cultural diversity. For me, Garry provided a model of what engaged filmmaking could be in Quebec. Bilingual and in love with French Montreal, his spirit was also rooted in English and Jewish worlds.
Helene and Magnus with Garry (centre). Photo: Jean-Guy Thibodeau
MAGNUS: His work over more than thirty years has provided a fascinating encounter between inspiring characters from different communities, with different viewpoints, who are trying to build bridges and find a common language. Garry has documented relationships between young and old (in Bittersweet deliveries), between citizen and newcomer (in Aller-Retour and Asylum) Jew and non-Jew (Helene will mention some examples), Anglophone and Francophone (Nothing Sacred…) between the healthy and the infirm (Endnotes, The Man who Learned to Fall) with great respect, compassion and humour. His films lead us to discover neighbors we didn’t know and become familiar with the challenges they confront.
I find his work on people whose health is severely challenged – and the people who try to maintain a sense of dignity and meaning in their life, especially touching. His films give new depth to people and places we thought we know, but – we realize when watching his films – only knew superficially– for example Schwartz’s smoked meat restaurant, Santropol Roulant’s meals on wheels for the elderly, Josh Dolgin – La Presse and the Gazette’s cartoonists Serge Chapleau and Aislin. His films are embraced by a large public on both the small and big screens, and in festivals around the world. His stories enrich our collective memory and still speak to us twenty and thirty years after they were created.
HELENE:
Besides making wonderful films about community, individuals in transition, and the creative process, Garry’s films have brought us inside various expressions of Jewish life in Quebec. For example, in Bonjour! Shalom! Garry took us, for the first time, to Outremont to explore the tensions and friendships between Hassidic Jews and their secular, and French Catholic neighbours.
My Dear Clarais a Jewish story of love and longing set in Montreal, Poland and Russia during the Second World War. InChez Schwartzour appetites are whetted as we follow a delightful melting pot of characters, and The Socalled Moviebrings us inside a joyful fusion of funk and hip hop with traditional Klezmer music. The Jewish community has also recognized Garry for his films and for his all-round humanity and generosity.
In Yiddish, Garry’s other language, he is called a true “mentsh”, or a great human being. We are thrilled for you Garry.
"Uranium 238: La bomba sucia del Pentágono"selected as one of the eight best films of the Uranium Film Festival of Rio de Janeiro 2011.
One of my films, Uranium, 1990 (in Canada you can watch it on the NFB website here) was selected to participate in the first international Uranium Film Festival in Brazil, which just ended. (Read a wrapup article here from Environment News Service.)
As Brazil is not known for its uranium or nuclear industry, I found this intriguing. I put some questions to Marcia Gomez de Oliveira, the Director of the Festival, and the director of programming Norbert G. Suchanek.
1. Why a festival of films on uranium?
Marcia Gomes de Oliveira: Because nuclear power plants cannot exist without uranium mining. And that factor is still not known to the general population or society. Also totally unknown to the public here in Brazil and in Latin America are the environmental and social consequences and the negative health effects of uranium mining and other installations of the complex nuclear energy industry. Our film festival wants to change that, wants to “popularize” this important information.
Most of the documentaries and movies about uranium, mining, nuclear energy or the Chernobyl disaster have never been shown in Brazil and were never translated into our language, Portuguese. There is a huge language barrier between the English and Portuguese-speaking world. Our festival is the first step in breaking down that wall. In addition, of course we want to stimulate filmmakers, especially filmmakers from Latin America and from Portuguese-speaking African countries, to produce documentaries and movies on nuclear and radioactive subjects.
And why in Brazil?
Marcia: Because we have nuclear power plants and uranium mines. And, starting with ex-president Lula da Silva, the Brazilian government wants not only to triple the production of Yellow Cake but also in the near future export enriched uranium. That is not all. The government is now constructing a third nuclear power plant, Angra 3, and wants to build up to 40 or 50 new nuclear power plants all over Brazil. Our government wants to transform our country into a globally important nuclear power. The Brazilian people until today have not been aware of this huge nuclear program. And we have to discus it, before it becomes reality, before it is too late.
Why on uranium and not for example hydroelectric dams?
The nuclear or uranium question is as important as the question of hydroelectric dams. The difference is that in Brazil, since the 1980s people already know about the negative effects of the big dams and hydroelectric power plants like Itaipu, Tucurui or Balbina. They are visible. However, the effects of radioactivity, the effects of uranium mining are not yet visible in our society. For that, we are working to spread independent information in form of documentaries about the whole nuclear energy complex and the radioactive risks.
2. For Norbert: You have seen pretty much everything that’s been done on uranium mining and its consequences over the last 30 years (40, right ?)
Norbert: As journalist and activist born in formerly West Germany, I followed the nuclear question for more than 30 years now. In Europe, “uranium mining” was always a forgotten subject because most of the uranium mining happens in other continents. The huge uranium mine of East Germany was also “forgotten” because it was simply a secret behind the Iron Curtain. The huge problems in the uranium mines of Portugal were not questioned outside of Portugal because of the language barrier and because that small country in the edge of Europe was not part of the early European Community. Therefore, for decades uranium mining was not visible to the European public and to most of the people worldwide.
Looking at all of them, what role has documentary played with respect to this issue?
Documentaries have been one of the most important vehicles to bring the uranium case into the public. Like I said, mining was not visible for the people, because it happened in secrecy or in other countries. Until today, the question of Nuclear Energy has been mainly fixed on the question of “Nuclear Waste” from nuclear power plants and nuclear accidents.
Starting with documentaries about uranium mining in Australia, documentaries about the fight of indigenous peoples against mines, people in the industrialized nations are becoming slowly aware that the fuel of Nuclear Power plants do not come from heaven. But will require many more documentaries to inform all of our societies, so that the people and their politicians can make correct and wise decisions in future.
Can you mention a couple of films which stand out ?
First of all your documentary Uranium and this is not because I want to be polite. Your documentary is simply a good piece of work with impressive images and one of the first that explores the consequences of uranium mining in Canada in a profound way.
From the other films that we selected for our festival, I personally like very much the documentary Fight for Country (the story of the Jabiluka Blockade) from Pip Starr, a film director who sadly died far too young. In the year 1998, Pip Starr spent over a year working with the aboriginal Mirrar people opposing a second uranium mine on their land. Finally, thousands of people from all over Australia traveled to the Kakadu National Park to join the Mirrar in their struggle. Produced in 2001, Fight for Country shows that people who stand up against uranium mining are not alone!
The third documentary I want to mention is a new production by film director Klara Sager from Sweden. The location of “Under the surface – Om bergen faller sönder“ produced in 2010/11 is the Hotagen, a mountain area in the North of Sweden.
Young, well-educated geo-engineers and technicians are hiking through a beautiful landscape in search for uranium, without any feeling, about what will happen to that amazing place of earth if one day uranium mining starts. On the other side, you have normal local people, elderly, who do not want uranium mining nor uranium prospecting happen in their land.
It is interesting to see, that Swedish people who are against uranium mining are not young students or “hippy”-type activists, but normal, elderly people. Under the surface also brings to light another kind of modern generation conflict – technicians and engineers fresh from the university working for international mining companies against elderly local people, grocery shopkeepers, housewives and the indigenous Sami, reindeer herders, with a totally different concept of nature and living.
Silda Wall Spitzer and Eliot Spitzer in CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Some fragment of the answer having to do with the intoxication of power and fame can be glimpsed from a truly excellent documentary called Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. It tells the story of how former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer got caught using an agency to book appointments with thousands-of-dollars-an-hour call girls.
Spitzer was famous for taking on the banks and speculators in Wall Street, and had been touted as a possible democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency. He didn’t commit the kind of crime Strauss-Kahn is accused of, but he fell from high and hit the ground hard.
The film, directed by Alex Gibney, is a model of documentary filmmaking. Not of the unpredictable fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind, but on the contrary, very carefully planned and executed. The mix of sex of politics is explosive, the characters, including Spitzer himself, hookers, madams and Wall Street sharks – his powerful enemies who helped get him caught -are fascinating.
An estimated 28,000 barrels of crude oil – 4.5 million litres – has spilled from the Rainbow pipeline onto the land of the Lubicon Indians in Northern Alberta. This is another terrible blow for an aboriginal community which was among the first in Canada to suffer the environmental impact of the oil industry.
Almost 30 years ago, in 1985, I covered this story as a television producer for Radio Canada, the French network of the CBC, together with one of my favourite journalist colleagues, Hélène Courchesne. We discovered and reported on a Cree community which had been left out of the treaty process, denied a land claims settlement, and was suffering the consequences of uncontrolled oil exploration and extraction.
ABOVE: Two of Hélène’s photos from 1982 show both traditional life and oil extraction.
Since then, hardly any progress has been made in settling the community’s claims. Instead, the mad rush for oil and gas has continued to impact them negatively. And now they have to deal with this horrendous pollution from the pipeline owned by Plains Midstream Canada – a subsidiary of Plains All American. The community of Little Buffalo is not far from the spill (the figures reported vary from 7 to 30 km) and the residents are complaining of health impacts such as headaches and nausea. The cleanup is underway, and will take many months. And how effective will it be ?
One of the great privileges of working for the CBC and Radio-Canada in those days was to be able to pretty much choose my subjects. For sure, they had to be approved by my superiors, but with a convincing pitch they usually said yes. I was very interested in the situation of aboriginal people and environmental issues, and I did a lot of those kinds of stories– 20-minute stories with a 3-week turnaround. The experience with the Lubicons was one of the most memorable and touching. Their situation was and still is one of Canada’s most shameful.
Here are a few links to organizations supporting the Lubicon or protesting the spill.
