Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

The Federal Government and Alberta’s Provincial Government are advocating that a new pipeline to the Pacific Ocean is essential to growth of the petroleum industry in Alberta. Enbridge has proposed to build a 1200 km pipeline to ship bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across the rugged terrain of British Columbia to a marine terminal in Kitimat, BC. Is the Northern Gateway Pipeline needed? What are the economic benefits of the pipeline? What are the environmental risks of the pipeline and the shipping of bitumen in tankers through the hazardous waters of the Douglas Channel? Are there alternatives to building this pipeline, which has been heavily criticized by many native groups and NGO’s? The speaker will explore the many environmental issues surrounding the Northern Gateway Pipeline project which currently is undergoing public hearings before a joint review panel. Speaker: Barry Robinson Barry Robinson is a staff lawyer in the Calgary office of Ecojustice. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Barry worked in the forest industry in northern Alberta and as an environmental consultant. Since joining Ecojustice in 2008, Barry has represented clients dealing with the environmental impacts of oil and gas activities, water allocation and licensing issues, and the protection of species at risk. Barry acts as legal consultant to three environmental groups in the joint hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

The Federal Government and Alberta’s Provincial Government are advocating that a new pipeline to the Pacific Ocean is essential to growth of the petroleum industry in Alberta. Enbridge has proposed to build a 1200 km pipeline to ship bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across the rugged terrain of British Columbia to a marine terminal in Kitimat, BC. Is the Northern Gateway Pipeline needed? What are the economic benefits of the pipeline? What are the environmental risks of the pipeline and the shipping of bitumen in tankers through the hazardous waters of the Douglas Channel? Are there alternatives to building this pipeline, which has been heavily criticized by many native groups and NGO’s? The speaker will explore the many environmental issues surrounding the Northern Gateway Pipeline project which currently is undergoing public hearings before a joint review panel. Speaker: Barry Robinson Barry Robinson is a staff lawyer in the Calgary office of Ecojustice. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Barry worked in the forest industry in northern Alberta and as an environmental consultant. Since joining Ecojustice in 2008, Barry has represented clients dealing with the environmental impacts of oil and gas activities, water allocation and licensing issues, and the protection of species at risk. Barry acts as legal consultant to three environmental groups in the joint hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

This is a regular session but with a Christmas twist. Please come early and listen to Christmas music & song Special Music 11:45 am - 12:05 pm - Gilbert Paterson Handbells 12:30 - 1:00 pm (during lunch) - Gilbert Paterson Select Choir As we approach Christmas and the spirit that goes with it, environmental challenges -- to air, water and land – are not going away. In Alberta we are polarized between development and environmental safeguards, between job and habitat protection, between corporate interests and citizen lobby/protest groups, between the dividends offered by hydraulic fracturing and those who fear its threat to water and health. The speaker will offer some guiding principles and insights that the human community might use to journey through this bewildering forest of choices and options. He will propose some spirited guidelines that might lead the way in our care of the earth, our care of one another and ourselves. And they may be principles we can all agree on. Speaker: Lorne Fitch Lorne Fitch grew up on a mixed farm in west central Alberta. He left the farm but the experience of growing up in semi-wild circumstances never left him. Lorne has been a biologist for over 40 years, working mostly in Alberta but also in other parts of Canada and internationally with the many issues related to use of land and water. Those experiences have allowed Lorne to conclude that how we treat the land and water is a result of how we see these elements, how we value them, and what our vision is for their future. It has led him to understand how knowledge levels affect people’s environmental opinions and has caused him to become an educator because if we want a future with clean water, productive soil, fish, wildlife and space, we must make proper choices now. Lorne is the Provincial Riparian Specialist with the Alberta Cows and Fish program. He is also an adjunct professor with the University of Calgary

This is a regular session but with a Christmas twist. Please come early and listen to Christmas music & song Special Music 11:45 am - 12:05 pm - Gilbert Paterson Handbells 12:30 - 1:00 pm (during lunch) - Gilbert Paterson Select Choir As we approach Christmas and the spirit that goes with it, environmental challenges -- to air, water and land – are not going away. In Alberta we are polarized between development and environmental safeguards, between job and habitat protection, between corporate interests and citizen lobby/protest groups, between the dividends offered by hydraulic fracturing and those who fear its threat to water and health. The speaker will offer some guiding principles and insights that the human community might use to journey through this bewildering forest of choices and options. He will propose some spirited guidelines that might lead the way in our care of the earth, our care of one another and ourselves. And they may be principles we can all agree on. Speaker: Lorne Fitch Lorne Fitch grew up on a mixed farm in west central Alberta. He left the farm but the experience of growing up in semi-wild circumstances never left him. Lorne has been a biologist for over 40 years, working mostly in Alberta but also in other parts of Canada and internationally with the many issues related to use of land and water. Those experiences have allowed Lorne to conclude that how we treat the land and water is a result of how we see these elements, how we value them, and what our vision is for their future. It has led him to understand how knowledge levels affect people’s environmental opinions and has caused him to become an educator because if we want a future with clean water, productive soil, fish, wildlife and space, we must make proper choices now. Lorne is the Provincial Riparian Specialist with the Alberta Cows and Fish program. He is also an adjunct professor with the University of Calgary

The debates around the recent Occupy movement have prompted questions about what constitutes effective action and whether the current young generation is engaged in social issues. Can these budding activist energies be sustained enough to create change? How can the interests of students who are focused on career training, or who approach learning with passivity, be expanded and nurtured so that they can act with greater alertness and attention to issues they face as global citizens? The Occupy movement, no matter how disorganized they may appear to be, suggests that what may be lacking is the theory, knowledge, and skills necessary to sustain active engagement against discursive, political, and economic pressures which encourage passive acceptance. Speakers: Josephine Mills and Bruce MacKay Bruce MacKay, a near-native Lethbridgian, did his undergraduate at the U. of L. in Anthropology, completed his Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard, and did his PhD at the University of Toronto in Religious Studies. He has taught a wide variety of courses at Red Crow College, Lethbridge College, and the University of Lethbridge. Since 2003 he has been Coordinator of the Liberal Education program in the Faculty of Arts and Science. His current research is in issues associated with teaching and learning for a liberal education. Josephine Mills is the Director/Curator of the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery and an Associate Professor in the Department of Art. She has worked as a curator and public programmer in art galleries and artist-run centres in Saskatoon and Vancouver. Mills has a PhD in Communication Studies from Concordia University and is a graduate of the Museum Leadership Institute at the Getty Center. Her research interests focus on broader issues related to collecting for art galleries and for artists as well as on the relationship between art and notions of public in Canada. Mills is the President of the Canadian Art Museum Directors’ Organization / Organisation des Directeurs des Musées d’Art du Canada and a past President of the University and College Art Gallery Association of Canada.

The debates around the recent Occupy movement have prompted questions about what constitutes effective action and whether the current young generation is engaged in social issues. Can these budding activist energies be sustained enough to create change? How can the interests of students who are focused on career training, or who approach learning with passivity, be expanded and nurtured so that they can act with greater alertness and attention to issues they face as global citizens? The Occupy movement, no matter how disorganized they may appear to be, suggests that what may be lacking is the theory, knowledge, and skills necessary to sustain active engagement against discursive, political, and economic pressures which encourage passive acceptance. Speakers: Josephine Mills and Bruce MacKay Bruce MacKay, a near-native Lethbridgian, did his undergraduate at the U. of L. in Anthropology, completed his Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard, and did his PhD at the University of Toronto in Religious Studies. He has taught a wide variety of courses at Red Crow College, Lethbridge College, and the University of Lethbridge. Since 2003 he has been Coordinator of the Liberal Education program in the Faculty of Arts and Science. His current research is in issues associated with teaching and learning for a liberal education. Josephine Mills is the Director/Curator of the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery and an Associate Professor in the Department of Art. She has worked as a curator and public programmer in art galleries and artist-run centres in Saskatoon and Vancouver. Mills has a PhD in Communication Studies from Concordia University and is a graduate of the Museum Leadership Institute at the Getty Center. Her research interests focus on broader issues related to collecting for art galleries and for artists as well as on the relationship between art and notions of public in Canada. Mills is the President of the Canadian Art Museum Directors’ Organization / Organisation des Directeurs des Musées d’Art du Canada and a past President of the University and College Art Gallery Association of Canada.

Most nations throughout the world have practiced discrimination against racial, religious, ethnic and ideological groups. Justification for these forms of exclusion has increasingly been discredited by the human rights revolution in the post colonization era and equal rights and non-discriminatory policies are now in focus. However, even as these older practices of exclusion are no longer in effect, they continue to have lasting consequences. Political reconciliation requires the rebuilding of damaged relationships. An absolutely central issue here is that of social trust. Challenges of reconciliation will be described by the speaker, using examples from various countries, including South Africa, Canada, Northern Ireland, and Sierra Leone. Speaker: Dr. Trudy Govier Trudy Govier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge. Her interests are in the areas of critical thinking and social philosophy. She is the author of a widely used textbook A Practical Study of Argument (7th Edition 2010), and ten other works including Dilemmas of Trust (1998), and Forgiveness and Revenge (2002). In the Lethbridge community, Trudy has helped to organize public lecture series and Philosophy Cafes, and worked with Amnesty International.

Most nations throughout the world have practiced discrimination against racial, religious, ethnic and ideological groups. Justification for these forms of exclusion has increasingly been discredited by the human rights revolution in the post colonization era and equal rights and non-discriminatory policies are now in focus. However, even as these older practices of exclusion are no longer in effect, they continue to have lasting consequences. Political reconciliation requires the rebuilding of damaged relationships. An absolutely central issue here is that of social trust. Challenges of reconciliation will be described by the speaker, using examples from various countries, including South Africa, Canada, Northern Ireland, and Sierra Leone. Speaker: Dr. Trudy Govier Trudy Govier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge. Her interests are in the areas of critical thinking and social philosophy. She is the author of a widely used textbook A Practical Study of Argument (7th Edition 2010), and ten other works including Dilemmas of Trust (1998), and Forgiveness and Revenge (2002). In the Lethbridge community, Trudy has helped to organize public lecture series and Philosophy Cafes, and worked with Amnesty International.

China's economy will soon become the largest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the Eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the United States by the end of 2016. To fuel an expanding economy, China has been on a global quest for raw materials for decades. In the energy sector, that includes oil, natural gas and uranium from Canada. Currently, two matters concerning our trade with China are the focus of public attention: the sale of the Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen to the Chinese state-owned-enterprise CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), and FIPA, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, yet to be ratified by the federal government. What are the issues surrounding the determination of a "net benefit" to Canada? Speaker: Gordon Houlden Gordon Houlden is the Director of the China Institute and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Born and educated in Calgary, he joined the Foreign Service in 1976. Twenty-two of his years with the Foreign Service were spent working on Chinese affairs for the Government of Canada. His last assignment, before joining the University of Alberta in 2008, was as Director General of the East Asian Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

China's economy will soon become the largest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the Eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the United States by the end of 2016. To fuel an expanding economy, China has been on a global quest for raw materials for decades. In the energy sector, that includes oil, natural gas and uranium from Canada. Currently, two matters concerning our trade with China are the focus of public attention: the sale of the Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen to the Chinese state-owned-enterprise CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), and FIPA, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, yet to be ratified by the federal government. What are the issues surrounding the determination of a "net benefit" to Canada? Speaker: Gordon Houlden Gordon Houlden is the Director of the China Institute and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Born and educated in Calgary, he joined the Foreign Service in 1976. Twenty-two of his years with the Foreign Service were spent working on Chinese affairs for the Government of Canada. His last assignment, before joining the University of Alberta in 2008, was as Director General of the East Asian Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.