Last night at the Rio Theatre in East Vancouver, I moderated a debate on the ethics of the oilsands developments.

It was a wildly entertaining and informative event pitting the Wilderness Committee’s healthy communities campaigner, Ben West, against Calgary lawyer, author, and oilsands defender Ezra Levant.

It didn’t appear as though anyone changed any minds last night.
Levant, a fiery right-wing flamethrower, had a few supporters in the
theatre.

He cleverly used arguments designed to appeal to a left-wing
audience, insisting that it was more ethical to buy oil from the
Canadian tar sands over oil purchased from tyrannical regimes in Saudi
Arabia or Sudan.

Levant also emphasized that the oilsands offer well-paid jobs to aboriginal people.

West didn’t give an inch, responding that no matter how much oil was
produced in Alberta, the Saudis would have no trouble selling every drop
of petroleum.

Read full Georgia Straight Charlie Smith article here