I find it completely unacceptable that Health Canada the very people and government authority charged with protecting our health would discipline a doctor sworn to uphold the oath of his discipline for the betterment of the health of our society. Obviously this doctor has conviction because he at least is making an effort to provide health care in an isolated community. That in it self speaks volumes about his integrity and conviction of caring for the work he dose.

This action dose not give me very much confidence in our government institutions that strong arm health workers into silence. Why not error on the side of caution instead of trying to silence a doctor that may or may not have a point? Why not fund a complete study of the situation in Fort Chipewyan. What possible interest would health Canada have in not have in getting to the bottom of the murky environmental issues at Fort Chipewayan?

Let,s trust Dr. O'conner..Forget all the studies create a source of clean water for the village...a alternate food source...would you eat the fish? The oil sands plants are there to stay they have deep pockets subsidize the food source...

This is a perfect example of a situation where the Precautionary Principle should be applied. The people of Fort Chipewyan have done everything right to demonstrate that there are toxics downstream from the tar sands mining. They have had independent testing of the river and of the fish. They have documented the cancer cases.The connection to the tar sand operations need to be documented by testing the water both above asnd below the perations. However, the alrady documented and anecdotal evidence should be sufficient to halt operations upstream from Fort Chipewyan until that is done. That testing shoud also,be done by scientists independent of industry and government.

For a future story, can you do a follow up of that Edmonton Journal item 26 Jan. '07 about the Medical Phd candidates project using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, please? This is the very device that can be used to examine human blood serum and urine samples for the presence of the kind of pollutants discussed in your article today about Ft. Chipewyan's cancer epidemiology crisis.
When you read the full article (which I have kept a copy of) it will show you that this is the future of medical diagnostics as a whole new paradygm.
I can understand that maybe they need more time to develop the equipment and method(s), plus publication too early may impact on any patent applications and not the least of which may be their Phd theses!

Good show, good study, not so good news. Want to know the story behind the story?
Don't think for a minute that Alberta Environment(AENV) has the data to make accurate assessments on the cumulative effects of oil sands industry development. It's the busiest and most politically and environmentally sensitive industrial development in the world yet AENV has never had more than two inexperienced field staff to deliver the entire complex regulatory program in the area. Over 1600 environmental incidents are reported annually, 600 of which are actual environmental infractions.(includes some really bad stuff) Of these only a handful get a second look with only a few ever resulting in any formal legal process. This is the true tragedy, no one is 'guarding the Fort', no one is holding industry to account.
With the pace of development and the complete lack of regulatory control this area is speeding toward an environmental and economic catastrophe. I for one would hate to be the political party at the helm that could have averted this by a simple infusion of common sense.
I know industry would prosper even if it were held to account. In some ways I think they'd even embrace a stricter regulatory regime. (Ok make that..any regulatory regime) There's got to be an honest shareholder out there that understands the value of good clean business.
HELLOOO ARE YOU OUT THERE????

What is happening to the poor people of Fort Chipewyan is a national disgrace. The greed in developing the oil sands in such an unsustainable manner with all these red flags that people are being poisoned is painful to watch.

I listened to this program twice and I have been reading about this situation in Fort Chip for quite some time. I don't need a scientist to tell me there is a correlation between the toxins in the water, animals and environment in Fort Chip and the elevated cancer rates in my home community. Let me share something with you. I am originally from Fort Chip and I have some intriguing information that frightens me each time I think about how my health would be had I grown up in my home community. You see I was born on the same day as Doreen who's also from Chip. My mother and her mother were in the same hospital in Fort McMurray making wagers who would give birth first. For nine years I lived in Chip at which time my mother moved us to Edmonton in the70s while Doreen made Fort Chip her home. I would see Doreen many times over the years and we would catch up on the news. In the winter of 2001, I went home for a visit and to my shock I saw a young woman in her thirties battling an illness that was foreign to the community 20 years prior. I was holding Doreen's hand as she told me of her illness called Leukemia and the physical results from her Chemo therapy. How could I have known it would be the last time I would talk to her? Doreen died five months later, only six days before our birthday. I commend the people of Fort Chip for doing due diligence and holding industry to account. The health of a community depends on it.

Exposing the people of this town to this ongoing fear and anxiety is unconscionable

As a long-term resident of Fort Chipewyan I am encouraged to see that someone is finally paying attention to the downstream effects of the world's largest mining project. All the pollutants in the Athabasca River, from pulp mill effluent to agricultural runoff to sediments eroded off vast clearcuts also contribute to the destructive impacts. Alberta, a source of several major river systems, refuses to acknowledge the impact of its economic and environmental policies on important deltas downstream in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and NWT. Alberta is a "land of opportunity", and I guess by extension the downstream jurisdictions must be something less. We in Fort Chipewyan now have little choice but to join in the boom so our children and grandchildren will get rich and have a choice to relocate to other less impacted regions of Canada and the world.

The situation in Fort Chipewyan sadly is a picture of what we Canadians all face increasingly: government and industry steam-rolling covering up the destruction of the environment on which everyone's health depends.

I felt sorry for the Alberta scientist having to bafflegab us with facts; he at least seemed uncomfortable in his job of having to keep smooth multi-billion dollar oil industry, which lacks a human heart.

Sad that our tax dollars have to pay to support such, and sad for him.

My heart goes out to you. Pray, PERSEVERE, and try out every possible remedy. Don't make it easier to ignore the problem.

I say, let's resolve to not let a day pass without constructive thoughts, thoughtful actions, and courageous initiative! That's what we're placed on this earth for.

The comments below speak for me.

O Canada! our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy OIL.
With glowing FEAR we see the DESTRUCTION,
The True North, SICK AND DYING.
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee OIL SANDS.
God keep our land POLLUTION free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee OIL.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee OIL.

"When the COST of the extraction of a resource is greater than the VALUE of that resource which is bieng extracted we shall find ourselves in one place and one place only. TROUBLE! Consequently we should assume that the oil/gas will run out in five years. Then adopt every concievable method of conservation in an attempt to stretch it out for ten years. And....during the interem keep our fingers crossed that someone will invent a more environmentally friendly source of
energy."

This TAR SANDS project provides the perfect example.

Why is it that in cases of environmental toxins the burden of proof is on those that suspect the problem is caused by industry? Why don't we make the industry prove that its activities are not causing harm? If we cared about the people we'ed shut down the industry until such time as it can prove that its activities are acceptable.

Alberta Environment is LYING you can tell.
Watch his eyes (up close) he's reading something just underneith the camra.

Considering that only a complete idiot would see no connection between what has developed at Ft. Mac. and the situation at Ft. Chip. it is apparent that the position of both the Alta. Govenment and the Federal government is to discredit anyone who disagrees with their "Offical" take on the enviromental or health effects of the tar sands. This is what you get when a government intentionally puts money before people, greed before caution, and only plans for "financial" profits. Dr. O'Conner has more integrity than any of the governments or health departments involved. In Alberta integrity does not get you far if it crosses the government. There are peolpe in both the Alta. and Federal governments, past and present, who should be charged with criminal negletic at the very least!
Call this what it is, the "Legacy of Ralph Klein". Remember, the man with no plan, or maybe he did have a....