It doesn’t take a genius to predict what will happen when hatred becomes policy. After the Norway attack became public, Peter MacKay suggested that it is still a volatile world.It has been, and always will be, a volatile world, which is why it’s the re…
Continue readingTag: Ezra Levant
Pushed to the Left and Loving It: Ann Coulter is Not a "Free Speech Heroine". She’s an Idiot.
I must admit that I had never heard Ann Coulter speak, but have read many of the things she has written. Certainly no intellectual, but if I understand correctly, she is a comedian, akin to a shock jock.Bill Maher had her on as a guest this week and my…
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Sun TV, Ezra Levant and Why the Danish Cartoons Matter
Ezra Levant, long time neocon insider and self-proclaimed stockaholic (one of 3 Stockwell Day fans), is among the bombastic characters on Fox News North (Sun TV).He used to run a small magazine (now out of business), where he published the infamous Dan…
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Zombie Youth and the Canadian Property Rights Research Institute
A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada In November of 2009, the Canadian Press learned that a government program designed to recruit the best and brightest from Canada’s universities, had been politicized for partisan…
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Fox News North DeadPool!
Glen McGregor says that Lilley (By-Line) and The Ez (The Source) aren’t doing bad, …but if you look at the numbers, everyone else is pretty seriously on the bubble. Canada Live is the bodacious but no-talent Ms. Erickson; the Daily Bri…
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: A Blast From Ezra’s Past:
Despite his constant criticism of CBC as a “state broadcaster” spouting propaganda “on the tax-payers dime”, Ezra Levant sponged up government dough when he ran The Western Standard. And, when it went under, what happened to its subscribers?
I wasn
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Your Daily Nazi: Fox News North To Interview Marc Lemire!
Dets here! First Ezra did Shaidle, now Lemire. He must thinking giving these guys a platform is going to get some government somewhere to act.Update: The message on FreeD has been disappeared. Don’t know what that signifies. You …
Continue readingLeDaro: Ezra Levant talks Garbage
Sun T.V. Breaking news. Toronto privatizes garbage collection. Levant thinks it is a great beginning to privatize government services. He devoted a significant part of his one hour program, The Source, to the Garbage Issue. Unfortunately I could not g…
Continue readingUPDATED…Guess What Folks? Our Oil is Ethical!
No, I don’t believe the malarkey that our oil is ethical. The only thing this argument does is compare our bad practices to the worse practices of other nations. Our oil is good because we aren’t Sudanese and killing our own people, or our oil is g…
Continue readingEzra Levant Has A Fit Over Layton and Ignatieff Recognizing Other Religions Exist in Canada
It’s Christmas time again. Another time for people to go out and spend spend spend. Another time for Christians the world over to reflect on the man who was sent here by God to absolve us of our sins. Of course, not everyone believes this, and that’s …
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Levant on Fort Chip Health Concerns
Last night, Ezra Levant and Ben West of the Wilderness Committee debated the ethics of the Alberta Oilsands in front of a packed house in Vancouver. During the debate, as he also does in his book Ethical Oil, Levant dismissed the health concerns of Fort Chipewyan residents by calling Dr.
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Levant on Fort Chip Health Concerns
Last night, Ezra Levant and Ben West of the Wilderness Committee debated the ethics of the Alberta Oilsands in front of a packed house in Vancouver. During the debate, as he also does in his book Ethical Oil, Levant dismissed the health concerns of Fort Chipewyan residents by calling Dr.
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Levant on Fort Chip Health Concerns
Last night, Ezra Levant and Ben West of the Wilderness Committee debated the ethics of the Alberta Oilsands in front of a packed house in Vancouver. During the debate, as he also does in his book Ethical Oil, Levant dismissed the health concerns of Fort Chipewyan residents by calling Dr. John O’Connor “a liar” and “alarmist.” Levant cites the complaint brought forward against Dr. O’Connor before the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons as evidence of this. He argues that since Dr. O’Connor was found to have made “inaccurate statements” about certain cancer types being elevated, cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan as whole are not higher than expected.
Levant forcefully made the point that health concerns in Fort Chipewyan are entirely unfounded to all in attendance — including an Aboriginal man from Fort Chipewyan. The man expressed his community’s concerns (comparing Fort Chipewyan’s experience to ‘a holocaust’ — which angered many in attendance because they thought he meant THE Holocaust), which Levant responded to by calling him a “grievance monger” that brought “shame on his community” by preferring they “be on welfare than work” (the Oilsands Industry is by far the largest economic force and job creator in First Nations’ communities in Alberta). Levant attacked this man, similar to Dr. O’Connor, for making unsubstantiated public health claims and creating paranoia.
Many dismiss Fort Chipewyan’s health concerns through similar arguments, albeit through less crass means. Alastair Sweeney, Canadian historian and author makes similar statements in his book Black Bonanza, which examines the Alberta Oilsands Industry (statements he repeated in an Ottawa Citizen opinion piece earlier this year — here was my response). Further, Dr. Wadieh Yacoub, a senior medical officer for Health Canada in Alberta and one of the individuals who brought forth the medical complaint against Dr. O’Connor, has indicated in conversations that Fort Chipewyan’s alleged health concerns are questionable due to Dr. O’Connor’s actions. The Alberta Government has also publicly stated this, as well as the Federal Government.
I don’t intend to defend Dr. O’Connor, as others have. Instead, I want to examine the legitimacy of the arguments of Levant, Sweeney, and Dr. Yacoub, and whether they are valid. They argue that since Dr. O’Connor’s claims of specific cancer types were inaccurate, there are no health issues in Fort Chipewyan and concerns that upstream oilsands industrial activity are having an impact on the community’s health are unfounded.
Let us examine the 2009 health study, Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1996 — 2006, that found that the specific types of cancers Dr. O’Connor indicated to be at elevated were in fact at normal and expected levels. Below is the study’s conclusion, in its entirety:
Conclusions
The investigation has confirmed a total of two cholangiocarcinoma cases and six colon cancer cases in Fort Chipewyan over the 12-year study period (1995-2006).The observed number of cases of these two types of cancers was within the expected range of cancer occurrence of the community.
The number of cancer cases observed in Fort Chipewyan was higher than expected for all cancers combined and for specific types of cancer, such as biliary tract cancer and cancers in the blood and lymphatic system. In particular, increases were found for biliary tract cancer in men and for lung cancer in women. This increase was based on a small number of cases and could be due to chance or increased detection. The possibility that the increased rate of cancer is due to increased risk in the community, however, cannot be ruled out. An increased number of cases of biliary tract cancers, cancers in the blood and lymphatic system and cancers of unknown primary seen in the most recent six years (2001-2006) compared to the first six years (1995-2000) of the study period warrant closer monitoring of cancer occurrence in upcoming years.
Before epidemiologic studies are used to investigate the causes of the increase, further studies are required in order to evaluate the possible cancer risk posed by living in Fort Chipewyan, by tracking a cohort of residents who have lived in the area within the past 20-30 years.
Whether people living in Fort Chipewyan have an increased risk of developing cancer is still not clear. This study did not investigate the association between the risk of cancer for Fort Chipewyan residents and the effects of possible environmental exposures. Health concerns voiced by the Fort Chipewyan community, the existing evidence about the potential environmental contaminants in the area, along with an absence of a general increase in cancer rates in the comparison communities, justify further investigations that would include the analysis of many potential risk factors, such as lifestyle risk factors, family history, as well as occupational and environmental exposures. Future work on cancer investigation and control needs to be part of the overall assessment of health status in the community.
The first paragraph deals with Dr. O’Connor’s elevated cancer claims, which the study’s authors indicate to be false, and found to be “within the expected range of cancer occurrence of the community.” However, as indicated by the bolded and underlined sections, the overall number of cancer cases in Fort Chipewyan were higher than expected as well as for specific cancers, such as biliary tract cancer and blood & lymphatic system cancers.
Further, although the study did not investigate what was behind the community’s elevated cancer rates, it identified three potential factors: chance, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors. Environmental factors include upstream oilsands industrial activity, which the study’s authors justify to warrant further study due to “existing evidence about the potential environmental contaminants in the area” (a list of these studies can be found here).
The study’s conclusions are clear: cancer rates are elevated, yet the reasons behind these abnormally high rates are currently unknown, though oilsands industrial pollution may have role, along with chance and lifestyle choices. Thus, credible scientific evidence exists to suggest that cancer rates in Fort Chipweyan are elevated (as well as rates of Lupus and other auto-immune diseases) and that oilsands pollution may have a role.
What Levant, Sweeney, Dr. Yacoub, the Alberta and Federal Governments are engaging in when discrediting Fort Chipewyan’s health concerns by arguing that Dr. O’Connor’s elevated cancer claims are unsubstantiated is a classical logical fallacy where a specific inaccurate statement is used to dismiss the wider position it supports. For example:
Position: According to the National Crime Study, City A has a violent crime problem.
Proponent of the Position: City A has the highest rate of rape in the country. This confirms the National Crime Study position that City A has a violent crime problem.
Critic of Position: Proponent said that City A has the highest rate of rape in the country. This is false, because City B was found to have the highest rate of rape in the National Crime Study. Thus, City A does not have a violent crime problem.
Fallacy: City A may not have the highest rate of rape in the country, but it could have other statistics — such as the rate of murder or assault — that would lead the National Crime Study to indicate that it had a violent crime problem.
Just because Dr. O’Connor’s claims were false, it doesn’t mean that there are no health concerns in Fort Chipewyan. Indeed, Alberta Health Services indicated that cancer rates within Fort Chipewyan are 30% higher than expected and oilsands industrial pollution may play a role. Thus, even though credible scientific evidence exists to substantiate Fort Chipewyan’s health concerns, Levant and others try to downplay and dismiss them by attacking Dr. O’Connor’s credibility and characterizing Fort Chipewyan as a community of “liars” and “deadbeats.”
Clearly, this is inaccurate and an attempt to deceive readers rather than to present the whole story and debate the facts. Public health concerns exist in Fort Chipewyan, and if you believe in peer-reviewed, academic science, oilsands industrial activity may have a role. Rather than waging misinformation campaigns, attacking community members, and manipulating the public, why don’t we focus on investigating Fort Chipewyan’s health concerns and uncover what is behind the high rates of cancer, just like the AHS study recommends.
If environmental factors aren’t the cause, great, we can dispel that myth. If it is, let’s clean up the industry and curb pollution by shutting down the tailings ponds. Either way, we have an obligation to Fort Chipewyan residents — as fellow Canadians, Albertans, and human beings — to find out what’s making them sick and, if possible, stop it.
For more information on Public Health Concerns in Fort Chipewyan, please read the Edmonton Journal’s feature on the issue, the CBC Edmonton Feature: Fort Chipewyan Health Concerns, Straight Outta Edmonton’s Public Health Concerns in Fort Chipewyan, Straight Outta Edmonton’s Public Health and Environmental Studies Source List, and other posts on the issue.
Continue readingA. Picazo: Ezra Levant vs Reality – A Prelude To Fox News North
The battle between supporters and opponents of Sun TV News – the Fox News style channel headed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former communications director Kory Teneycke – reached new heights when members of the ‘Fox News North’ team took issue with a growing online petition urging the CRTC to reject Quebecor’s (QMI) request to
Continue readingA. Picazo: Levant, Coulter Protect Free Speech
The rules laid out for attendees of the Coulter event in Calgary demonstrate who’s ‘free speech’ Ezra Levant, Ann Coulter, and event sponsors International Free Press Society are seeking to defend…their own. Levant and Coulter both hide behind the guise of ‘free speech’ to justify their slander, bigotry, and blatant
Continue readingbastard.logic: The Last Post I Will Ever Write About Ann Coulter (Except for Cynical SEO Purposes)
by matttbastard (Photo: Rockinon2009, Flickr) Well, well, well (h/t Sabina Becker): First, contrary to what Coulter seems to suggest in a brief phone interview with Macleans.ca scribe Colby Cosh, it was not the police who “shut it down.” I spoke with Ottawa Police Services … Continue reading →
Continue readingA. Picazo: Fomented Outrage And Phoney Censorship
Ezra Levant, the self described expert on free speech in Canada, is Outraged! over the cancelation of Ann Coulter‘s scheduled Tuesday appearance at the University of Ottawa. Levant’s been busy on twitter, Facebook, TV and radio, desperately trying to sell the public his version of events and paint himself and Coulter
Continue readingbastard.logic: Ann Coulter in Canada: Of Fire Alarms and Flaming Hyperbole
by matttbastard (Photo: Jimbo Wales, flickr) Aw, poopsie: After protesters at the University of Ottawa prevented Ann Coulter from giving a speech on Tuesday night, the American conservative writer said it proved the point she came to make – free … Continue reading →
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