The mighty Athabasca lands Home of the moose and bear The river teemed with walleye and The wolf lurked in its lair The landscape silent, still and deep Where trappers plied their trade The tarsands dormant and asleep where river otter played A wildland empire remote unchanged by human hand With reverence the trappers spoke Of Athabasca land This land forever it has been A wildland paradise Summers gurgling and green Winters of snow and ice A distant whisper from the south Sent shivers through the land A vague plan spread by word of mouth To mine the tarry sand Soon surveyors were pounding stakes And big yellow machines Flattened the bush the land to break Land that was once pristine Industry rapidly advanced Huge trucks loaded with tar Brought product to the growing plants And left a growing scar The industry grew at a boil Our language we revised The word “tar” was replaced by “oil” It seemed more civilized As years passed the production grew The scar mushroomed as well Within four decades people knew Things weren’t going well The scar a landmark seen from space An unfolding disaster Reclaiming plans could not keep pace The scar grew ever faster Pipelines gushing toxic muck Formed massive tailing slews Which doomed flocks of migrating ducks Made headlines in the news With image of the oilsands spoiled By industry’s mistakes The public spoke of “dirty oil” A tag they could not shake The “dirty oil” term stuck and then Was spread throughout the land Our leaders knew that once again They had to change the brand And so some leading minds were pressed And mightily they toiled They spoke of freedom; how we’re blessed and coined “Ethical Oil” But where’s the voice that penetrates The gloss of a new brand Inspires change and reinstates Hope in a wounded land.
Bert Dyck
MD of Bighorn
