Passionate lobbyist chosen one of 50 Most Influential People

Well-known George Poitras has been chosen by Alberta Venture publication as one of the 50 most influential people in the province. As a resident of the community and former chief of the Mikisew First Nation located at Fort Chipewyan, he has been advocating on behalf of all peoples in the area for years, most notably as a result of the tar sands development that is ongoing in the northern half of the province.

Max Fawcett is managing editor at Venture Publishing. “We are not picking the most powerful people in Alberta, but rather the 50 most influential ones,” he explained. “George brought a very unique level of attention to an industry in Alberta.”

Poitras bravely and successfully approached prestigious James Cameron, fellow Canadian and filmmaker of blockbuster hits such as Avatar, who is admittedly an impassioned environmentalist. Recognizing Cameron as harbouring the same concerns about the development of the tar sands, Poitras invited him to visit and meet with government and industry officials. Fawcett noted that Poitras was speaking on behalf of all Canadians, in addition to his own people, when he brought attention to the resource extraction of their lands.

 “He deserves credit for the approach that he took. We’ve seen a lot of anti-oil sands campaigns, that were very superficial, but he invited a very famous person, who did the research on it and pushed the debate forward in a meaningful way,” said Fawcett.

Poitras said he figured he had nothing to lose by asking the film director to come to Canada and see for himself what the oil sands development was doing to the land and to the people who lived and made their living there.     
Poitras was aware of Cameron’s impressions, having seen media reports of him saying that the oil sands were a black eye on the image of Canada. Poitras was in New York attending a meeting of a United Nations forum on Indigenous issues and one of the featured activities was a special screening of Avator.

 “It is a very environmentally-oriented picture and as a Canadian (Cameron) was concerned about what was happening here. I seized the opportunity to personally invite him to come to Canada and he accepted,” said Poitras. The government of Alberta had responded to earlier comments of Cameron’s by challenging him to come to the province and see the industry for himself.
Poitras said he was excited but not surprised, as Cameron’s concerns were obvious when Poitras spoke to the director. Like Cameron, Poitras was alarmed by the world-wide media response to the production of the tar sands, and also on the impact on the land.

Learning of the recognition by Alberta Venture was pleasing.

 “It was awesome, definitely a highlight of my career. But I’m grateful to Cameron for helping to bring attention to Fort Chip and to the Aboriginal people of the area and I’m glad I had the opportunity to help make it happen, ” said Poitras.