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Wall dismisses Suzuki’s oilsands comparison to U.S. slavery

Wall dismisses Suzuki’s oilsands comparison to U.S. slavery

 

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is expressing his disdain over remarks made by environmental heavyweight David Suzuki, who likened the country’s oilsands to slavery.

Suzuki’s comment were made Monday on Evan Solomon’s SiriusXM program, "Everything is Political." It came as a reaction to a clip of Wall that was played, in which he advises political leaders to consider the number of jobs created by the energy sector when assessing climate change goals.

“You know what I say to that clip? It sounds very much to me like the Southern states argued in the 19th century — that to eliminate slavery would destroy their economy. It did. It transformed their economy. They took a big hit. But who would say today that the economy should’ve come before slavery?” Suzuki responded.

When pressed about his remarks, he remained defiant, saying that while those working in the energy sector might take offence, “they’re destroying the very atmosphere that we depend on.”

Wall says Suzuki’s remarks, which made headlines, are “ridiculous.”

“I'm sure the energy sector in Saskatchewan doesn't take it seriously," he told reporters Wednesday.

He went on to say that people who work in oil and gas are invested in the community and suggests that Suzuki’s remark only “hurts” the message of those fighting to shut down the sector — and may even help sway people who are undecided on the issue.

“Maybe (Suzuki’s remarks) helps (the undecided) move to the other side, where they realize…maybe we ought to be less interested in what they’re saying and more interested in what the sector is doing in terms of employing Canadians, in terms of being more diligent about the environment, about more sustainable development,” he said.

Saskatchewan’s upstream oil and gas industry employs about 38,000 people, directly and indirectly, each year. In 2014, the combined value of oil and gas production was close to $16 billion.

Suzuki sent an email to “Everything is Political” after his controversial remarks, clarifying that he wasn’t targeting oilsands workers.

“People caught … working for the fossil-fuel industry will have to make a transition, they are not the target of my ire,” he reportedly said.

Twitter did not take kindly to his remarks. The hashtag #ShameOnSuzuki even started to appear on feeds.

“I heard that @DavidSuzuki say on @EvanLSolomon show that oil sands development is as immoral as slavery. I say WHAT???” wrote @Klandrock

“If @DavidSuzuki equates supporting the oilsands to slavery his massive use of carbon fuels makes him a slave owner #ableg” lamented @AllegedlyOld

In a blog posted on the David Suzuki Foundation website earlier this year, Suzuki wrote: “People have changed economic systems many times before, when they no longer suited shifting conditions or when they were found to be inhumane, as with slavery. And people continue to develop tools and technologies that were once thought impossible. Things are only impossible until they’re not.”