Calgary Herald op-ed

 

 For more than 120 years, ranching families have been stewarding the eastern slopes of southern Alberta. Prior to that it was under the purvey of the Blackfoot Confederacy. In 1877, Chief Crowfoot was asked by the federal government if he would sell his people’s land for a great sum of money.He responded something like this: “You say your money is worth a lot. But if I throw a handful of your money and a handful of our land into the fire, which will last? You want me to sell my people’s land for something that will perish in a small camp-fire?” The wisdom and weight of the metaphor is directly applicable to the situation faced by Albertans today. Petro-Canada is offering Albertans a sum of money, in the form of royalties and other spinoffs, if we allow their sour gas pipeline through a unique natural area.