Citizens Exposing Environmental Harm (Ages 18+)
This playlist features a selection of films that illustrate instances of community action, where citizens have banded together to confront issues such as climate change and threats to the environment. Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.
This playlist features a selection of films that illustrate instances of community action, where citizens have banded together to confront issues such as climate change and threats to the environment.
Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.
Playlist
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Worst Case ScenarioGlynis Whiting 2001 43 minThis documentary looks at the risks of a proposed sour gas well near Clearwater River, in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Farmers and landowners all share concerns. Residents opposed to the well fear a deadly hydrogen sulphide leak. Shell Canada says it must drill to meet energy needs. When mediation talks break down, both sides anxiously await a ruling from Alberta's Energy and Utilities Board.
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The Battle of Rabaska - Chronicle of an Environmental ConflictMagnus Isacsson & Martin Duckworth 2008 1 h 18 min
This documentary is the story of citizen activists opposing a methane tanker terminal practically on their doorstep. Lucid and compelling, the film shows citizen action pitted against powerful lobbies and reminds us to be vigilant faced with Quebec's environmental and energy-related issues over the coming years.
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Pipelines, Power and DemocracyOlivier D. Asselin 2015 1 h 28 min
Pipelines, Power and Democracy is a striking documentary that follows the mobilization of ordinary people to thwart the ambitions of oil companies and halt, even if only temporarily, the advance of pipelines across Quebec. In the process, the film offers a sharp reminder that power can be accessible to all.
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Herbicide TrialsNeal Livingston 1984 48 min
In 1983, fifteen Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, landowners went to court to stop the spraying of herbicides by the local subsidiary of a Swedish multinational on forests adjacent to their properties. They found that the testimony of scientists and the support of public opinion, both here and abroad, were not enough to win their case. The film shows their ordeal and the landmark Sydney trial. Concerns raised included potential conflict-of-interest situations where a government must protect citizens' health while supporting certain kinds of industry; the relative value of the political and judicial processes in mediating social problems; and the need for a public forum for debating environmental issues. The film contains outstanding footage from chemical-industry films of the 1950s and recent material about Vietnam veterans affected by Agent Orange.
