Dene National Chief takes tarsands concerns to Berlin

Dene Nation Chief Bill Erasmus attended an Embassy event, at a large tourism expo in Berlin, Germany, to draw attention to the issue of Canadian oil sands development. Tourism officials from Alberta and other parts of Canada were promoting the natural beauty of Alberta and BC. Erasmus delivered a letter to tourism officials discussing concerns over Canada’s economy and the tar sands.†Erasmus’ letter said, in part, “We are not against economic development in Canada or Alberta, but the tar sands extraction is polluting our rivers, destroying our natural resources and thus the economic basis of our survival – and yours. This is a model of economic development, tied to boom and bust cycles, which will not bring lasting prosperity to our country. What we need is a sustainable economic model for a diversified economy that does not depend on exporting fossil fuels. We want you to understand that the existing proposed tar sands expansion will continue to harm the economic interests of Canada.”