CBC Nir Dec 10.Indd

News in Review Resource Guide

December 2010 Credits Resource Guide Writers: Sean Dolan, Kim Earle, Peter Flaherty, Jim L’Abbé Copy Editor and Desktop Publisher: Susan Rosenthal Resource Guide Graphics: Laraine Bone Production Assistant: Carolyn McCarthy Resource Guide Editor: Jill Colyer Supervising Manager: Karen Bower Host: Michael Serapio Senior Producer: Nigel Gibson Producer: Lou Kovacs Video Writers: Nigel Gibson Director: Douglas Syrota Graphic Artist: Mark W. Harvey Editor: Stanley Iwanski

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News in Review, December 2010 1. The Trial of Omar Khadr (Length: 16:13) 2. The Oil Sands and the PR War (Length: 14:36) 3. A New Campaign to Fight Bullying (Length: 15:42) 4. The Rescue of the Chilean Miners (Length: 16:25) Contents In This Issue ...... 4

THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR ...... 6 Introduction ...... 6 Video Review ...... 7 The Trial ...... 10 The Controversy ...... 12 Child Soldiers ...... 14 Mixed Sentiments ...... 16 Activity: A Letter to Stephen Harper ...... 18

THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR ...... 19 Introduction ...... 19 Video Review ...... 20 Context ...... 22 Recent Controversies ...... 25 The PR War ...... 28 Activity: Design your own PR campaign! ...... 30

A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING ...... 31 Introduction ...... 31 Video Review ...... 32 What is Bullying? ...... 35 Tragic Tales of Bullying ...... 37 It Gets Better ...... 39 Activity: A Personal Story ...... 41

THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS ...... 42 Introduction ...... 42 Video Review ...... 43 Miners Get Trapped ...... 45 Rescuing the Miners ...... 47 Surviving Underground ...... 49 Psychological Impact ...... 51 Activity: Lessons Learned ...... 53

News in Review Index ...... 54

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 3 In This Issue . . .

THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR (Length: 16:13) NiR Study In late October a young Canadian named Omar Khadr went on trial before a military Modules Using print and video tribunal at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba. Khadr was accused of killing material from archival an American soldier during a ﬁreﬁght in Afghanistan in 2002. In this News in Review issues of News in story we’ll look at what happened at the trial, and why it was so controversial. Review, teachers and students can create NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos thematic modules Guantanamo Bay and Omar Khadr Afghanada for independent March 2009 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear assignments, and small Omar Khadr: Canadian in Guantanamo Broken Heros group study. September 2007 Life and Death in Kandahar The U.S. vs. Omar Khadr Related CBC Videos Other videos available from CBC Learning; see the back cover for contact details.

THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR (Length: 14:36) The U.S. government is considering whether to allow construction of a giant pipeline that would pump even more Canadian oil into the United States. But the oil comes from Alberta’s controversial oil sands, and many environmentalists say the pipeline should not be built. In this News in Review story we’ll look at how both sides are making their views heard.

NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos The Future of the Oil Sands, April 2009 Crude Awakening: Alberta’s Oil Patch The Oil Sands and the Environment Ghosts of Futures Past February 2008 When is Enough Enough? Boom Times: Alberta’s Red-Hot Economy When Less Is More: Alberta Tar Sands May 2006 Exploration

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 4 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING (Length: 15:42 ) Bullying is a serious issue in many Canadian schools. In recent years cyber-bullying has only made the situation worse. In this News in Review story we’ll look at the scale of the problem in this country. We’ll also examine a new viral campaign that reassures bullied kids that it does get better.

NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos Teaching Children How to Care Boys Will Be Boys December 2006 Bullied, Battered and Bruised Bullies in Schools, September 2001 It’s a Teen’s World Reena Virk: A Senseless Death This Secret Shame

THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS (Length: 16:25 ) It was a rescue that was watched by millions of people all over the world: 33 Chilean miners hauled to the surface after being trapped underground for more than two months. In this News in Review story we’ll look at the rescue and why the miners’ ordeal touched so many.

NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos Metal Mania: Canada’s Mining Boom Broken Heros April 2006 Devco: What Price Loyalty? March 2000

Sections marked with this symbol contain content suitable for younger viewers. Exercises marked with this symbol indicate that a worksheet to aid in the exploration of the topic is available online.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 5 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR Introduction In late October 2010 the last act in the However, shortly after the trial began Focus long and dramatic story of Omar Khadr in August 2010, it had to be adjourned This News in Review story focuses on the finally came to an end when he pleaded for a month because of the sudden life and recent trial guilty at a trial before a U.S. military collapse of Khadr’s defence lawyer in of Canadian Omar tribunal. The Canadian-born Khadr was court. When the proceedings resumed Khadr. Khadr spent only 15 years old when he was taken in October, Khadr entered a new plea eight years in the in 2002 to the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of “guilty.” It has been suggested United States military prison camp as an alleged terrorist. He that the new plea was the result of prison at Guantanamo was accused of killing one U.S. Marine an intense round of plea-bargaining Bay, Cuba, after being charged with with a grenade and wounding another negotiations between U.S. and killing an American during a firefight between Al Qaeda Canadian officials, including Secretary serviceman during the militants and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. of State Hillary Clinton. On October war in Afghanistan. In When his long-awaited trial finally began 25, 2010, Khadr was given an eight- October 2010, Khadr he was 24. year sentence. He would be eligible for pleaded guilty to the Throughout his long incarceration, a transfer to a Canadian prison after charges. Khadr had always insisted on his serving one more year at Guantanamo innocence. He claimed that he could not Bay. Further Research have thrown the deadly grenade because Throughout the years of Khadr’s Learn more from he had already been badly wounded in imprisonment, the Canadian government a timeline of the the shootout with the Marines. When consistently resisted pressure to Khadr trial by visiting the trial began in August 2010, he intervene in the case and bring him CBC News online at originally entered a plea of “not guilty” home to this country. Despite the fact www.cbc.ca/canada/ to the five charges levelled against him: story/2010/08/12/f- that there was considerable doubt about omar-khadr-trial.html. murder, attempted murder, conspiring his guilt, and serious allegations that with terrorists, spying, and providing he was suffering mistreatment at the support for terrorists. His Canadian hands of his jailers in Guantanamo Bay, legal team and the U.S. military lawyer Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused authorized to defend him at the trial to act on Khadr’s behalf. Once the stated their belief in Khadr’s innocence. verdict was rendered, Foreign Affairs Because of his age they considered him Minister Lawrence Cannon reluctantly to be a child soldier and therefore also acknowledged that Omar Khadr would a victim of wrongful imprisonment in fact be repatriated to Canada in a and mistreatment, not a cold-blooded year’s time. Shortly thereafter, he may terrorist assassin. even be eligible for parole. To Consider 1. In what ways could Omar Khadr be considered both a child soldier and a terrorist? 2. What are some of the reasons why Khadr might have changed his original plea of “not guilty” to “guilty”? 3. What is a plea bargain and how might Khadr have benefitted from it? 4. Do you think plea bargaining should be a part of the criminal justice system? Why? 5. Why might Prime Minister Harper and his government have been reluctant to intervene with U.S. authorities on Khadr’s behalf?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 6 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR Video Review

Quote Pre-viewing Questions “Successive federal With a partner or in a small group, discuss and respond to the following governments failed to questions. protect Khadr’s rights 1. How much do you know about the case of Omar Khadr? as a citizen. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court has conﬁrmed that federal ofﬁcials violated Khadr’s 2. Why do you think Khadr’s case has attracted so much media attention, constitutional rights.” both in Canada and around the world? — Lee Prokaska, journalist (The Hamilton Spectator, November 2, 2010)

3. How much do you know about child soldiers and their role in various conﬂicts around the world?

4. Do you think that the Canadian government’s decision not to intervene with U.S. authorities in the Khadr case was right? Why or why not?

Viewing Questions As you watch the video, respond to the questions in the spaces provided. 1. When did the trial of Omar Khadr begin? Where did it take place?

2. What charges was Khadr facing at the trial?

3. Who is Sgt. Layne Morris and what is his opinion of Omar Khadr?

4. Who is Lieut-Commander William Kuebler and what is his opinion of Khadr?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 7 5. What are the two versions of the events of July 2002 in Khost, Afghanistan, Quote in which Khadr was implicated? “At 24, Omar Khadr has never truly been in control of his own life . . . But today—after spending more than one-third of his life locked inside the world’s most notorious cage—Khadr ﬁnally has the chance to 6. Why is the evidence against Khadr considered to be controversial? be his own man.” — Michael Friscolanti, journalist (Macleans. ca, November 9, 2010) 7. What evidence is there that Khadr was subjected to mistreatment during his captivity?

8. Why is Omar Khadr’s family unpopular among many Canadians?

9. How would Omar Khadr’s family background have inﬂuenced him to become a ﬁghter with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan?

10. What evidence is there that Khadr had changed his views about ﬁghting Americans?

11. What ruling did the Supreme Court make on the case in January 2010?

12. What criticisms of the trial of Omar Khadr were made by Alex Neve of Amnesty International and Dennis Edney, Khadr’s defence lawyer?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 8 13. Why did Khadr decide to change his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty” when the trial resumed?

14. What statement did Khadr make to Tabitha Speer, the widow of Marine Sgt. Christopher Speer, the soldier he is alleged to have killed with a grenade?

15. a) What sentence did the prosecution request for Omar Khadr? What sentence did the jury impose?

b) Why was this only a symbolic gesture on its part?

16. How much more jail time does Omar Khadr have to serve in Guantanamo Bay? How much will he have to serve on his return to Canada?

Post-viewing Questions 1. Now that you have watched the video, revisit your responses to the Pre- viewing Questions. How has watching the video helped you respond to the questions in greater depth? Have your opinions on the Omar Khadr case changed in any way? Explain.

2. Would you describe Omar Khadr as a “child soldier” or as a “terrorist”? Explain.

3. If you were in a situation like Omar Khadr, would you choose to accept a plea bargain that involved pleading guilty to the charges against you— even if you believed you were innocent—in return for a substantially reduced jail sentence, most of which would be spent in Canada? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 9 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR The Trial

Quote Reading Prompt [Khadr] “would have As you read this account of the trial of Omar Khadr make a list of three or four confessed to anything, key events that were important to the outcome of the proceedings, and why. including the killing of John F. Kennedy, The Stage is Set only that he had been used as a child just to get out of this After almost eight years in detention at soldier by his Al Qaeda superiors hellhole.” — Dennis Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Omar Khadr Edney, Khadr’s finally faced his accusers in a U.S. A Change in Strategy Canadian lawyer (CBC The trial was adjourned for a few months News, October 25, military tribunal held at the base. A jury 2010) of seven American military personnel— after one of Khadr’s lawyers collapsed four men and three women—would sit at trial. Just weeks before the trial was in judgment of the young Canadian- scheduled to resume in late October, born Al Qaeda fighter and alleged rumours began to circulate in the media terrorist and murderer. The tribunal about a possible plea deal that Khadr and would operate under a military code his lawyers were negotiating with U.S. of justice quite different from the way authorities. As the story gained more a trial is conducted in a civilian court. credibility, it was even reported that U.S. For example, in a military tribunal the Secretary Hillary Clinton had discussed accused can be found guilty if five of Khadr’s possible repatriation to Canada the seven members of the jury vote to with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence convict, while in a civilian trial the jury’s Cannon. decision must be unanimous. This was a dramatic departure from On August 9, 2010, Omar Khadr the Canadian government’s previous formally pleaded not guilty to the five position on the Khadr case. Up to this charges the prosecution had brought point, the federal government had shown against him: the murder of Marine no inclination to intervene on his behalf Sgt. Christopher Speer; the attempted or commit itself to permitting his return murder of Sgt. Layne Morris; conspiring to Canada to serve his sentence. with terrorists, including Al Qaeda On October 25, the trial resumed and leader Osama bin Laden; spying; and Omar Khadr officially notified the court providing material support to terrorists. that he was changing his plea from “not At the outset, Col. Patrick Parrish, the guilty” to “guilty.” Given that Khadr had presiding military judge, delivered a stubbornly refused to admit his guilt for serious setback to Khadr’s defence team. any of the offences brought against him He ruled that a confession Khadr was up to this point, his dramatic change of alleged to have made while in detention mind seemed surprising to some. would be admitted as evidence, along with a video depicting him making The Sentencing Hearing and planting bombs in Afghanistan. Even though a plea deal had been The defence team had claimed that reached, the trial continued. As part the confession had been extracted of the agreement, Khadr was required from Khadr after he had been tortured to deliver a statement to the court and threatened with gang rape at admitting his guilt in all of the charges Guantanamo, and that the video proved brought against him. He stated that he

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 10 had deliberately thrown the grenade A Symbolic Sentence and an Quote that killed Sgt. Speer and injured Sgt. “I’m really, really Uncertain Future sorry for the pain I Morris “with the intent of killing or On October 31, 2010, the military caused you and your injuring as many Americans as possible.” court sentenced Omar Khadr to 40 family. I wish I could In addition, he admitted that he knew years in prison for the war crimes he do something that his father, Ahmed Khadr, was a close had committed, 15 more than even the would take away your personal friend of Osama bin Laden, that prosecution had requested. However the pain.” — Omar Khadr, he had attended an Al Qaeda terrorist sentence was only symbolic, since the apologizing to widow training camp, that he had learned how Tabitha Speer in court plea deal Khadr had previously reached (CBC News, October to make weapons in Afghanistan in 2002, would override it. Nonetheless, the U.S. 28, 2010) and that he had freely chosen to engage military wanted to send a message to with U.S. forces in the fateful firefight the world that “terrorists and murderers” where he was wounded and captured. could expect harsh punishment for their One of the most dramatic moments in actions. The Khadr case was now over. It the trial occurred when Khadr delivered had received widespread media coverage an apology to Tabitha Speer, the widow in Canada and around the world, of the marine sergeant he was accused of and would no doubt remain highly killing. Khadr went on to claim that the controversial for years to come. years he had served in Guantanamo— As for Omar Khadr, the young man many of which were spent in solitary at the centre of the storm, his future still confinement—had provided him with appeared uncertain. He would spend one ample time to think about his actions and more year either in Guantanamo or at what had motivated them. He claimed another U.S. military prison. After that, that he had reached two fundamental he would be admitted to Canada where conclusions that led him to reject his he would be incarcerated at a so-far past as a radical jihadist fighter, the first undisclosed location. He may be eligible that nothing could be gained from hate, for parole in 2013. and the second that love and forgiveness are a more constructive way of solving problems.

Analysis 1. Working with a partner or in a small group, share the lists of key events of the trial and why they were signiﬁcant to its ﬁnal outcome.

2. Do you think Omar Khadr was right to change his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty”? If you were in his position, would you have done the same thing?

3. Do you regard the sentence Khadr received as a result of his plea bargain to be appropriate? Why or why not?

4. Do you believe Omar Khadr when he states that his experiences in prison have caused him to change his views about violence, terrorism, and religious extremism? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 11 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR The Controversy

Vocabulary Focus for Reading Mujahedeen — The As you read the information in this section, ask yourself why the case of Omar anti-Soviet Afghan Khadr has become so controversial. Focus particularly on his family background Islamic resistance and influences as well as the conflicting versions of the events of the firefight in movement that which he was involved in Afghanistan. formed after the 1979 Soviet invasion of An Unusual Case among conservative, fundamentalist Afghanistan Omar Khadr was only 15 years old when Muslims. When Omar was four, the he entered the U.S. military detention family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, a centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an city close to the Afghan border and a key alleged “unlawful enemy combatant,” base for Islamic resistance fighters. or terrorist. He was the youngest person In 1992, Ahmed Khadr was almost ever to be detained there—and the killed after stepping on a land mine only Canadian. He was also the only while fighting with the mujahedeen Al Qaeda or Taliban fighter captured in in Afghanistan. He returned with his Afghanistan to face formal charges for family to Canada to receive medical the killing of an U.S. serviceman. treatment but went back to Pakistan shortly afterward to continue his role in The Khadr Family the resistance. It is believed that this was Some members of Omar Khadr’s family when Ahmed first met Osama bin Laden, have made outspoken and controversial the future leader of Al Qaeda and the comments to the media justifying mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist acts against U.S. forces in terrorist attacks on the United States. In Afghanistan. For this reason, they October 2003, Ahmed Khadr was killed have not received a lot of sympathy in a shootout between Al Qaeda militants from the Canadian government or the and units of the Pakistani army. Canadian public. The “Al Qaeda family” Ahmed Khadr had been keen to enlist that includes at least some of Omar’s his four sons in the cause of radical Islam relatives has become a very negative and arranged for all of them to receive symbol of radical jihadist Islam in the military training at Al Qaeda bases in minds of many people and, rightly or Pakistan and Afghanistan. His eldest wrongly, has hardened their attitudes son, Abdullah, was accused of killing a about Omar and his plight. Canadian soldier in Kabul in early 2004 In 1977, Omar Khadr’s father, Ahmed as part of a suicide bombing mission, a Said Khadr, emigrated from Egypt charge he denied. Jailed in Toronto at the to Canada and later met and married request of U.S. authorities in late 2005, Maha, a Palestinian-born woman. The he was finally released in August 2010 Khadrs had six children—four boys after the Ontario Supreme Court called and two girls—and acquired Canadian for a halt to the proceedings against him. citizenship. Ahmed Khadr first became Another son, Abdurahman, who attracted to the cause of radical calls himself “the black sheep of the Islam after the Soviet Union invaded family,” was arrested as an Al Qaeda Afghanistan in late 1979. The invasion suspect in 2001 and spent some time had triggered widespread resistance in Guantanamo before being sent back

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 12 to Afghanistan. He returned to Canada Marines’ version of the story, arguing in 2003 and has totally renounced the that Khadr would have been too severely radical Islamist beliefs of his family. wounded to have been able to throw the Finally, Abdul Karim, Omar’s youngest deadly grenade, which in all likelihood brother, was severely wounded in the had been thrown by another Al Qaeda same firefight that killed his father. fighter who was subsequently killed in Paralyzed from the waist down, he now the firefight. lives with his mother and sisters in Khadr steadfastly maintained his Toronto. innocence from the time of his capture and internment at Guantanamo Bay until A Firefight in Khost he finally decided to plead guilty of On July 27, 2002, Omar Khadr was part murdering Speer in return for a much- of an Al Qaeda fighting squad that found reduced sentence. A confession that itself cornered by a U.S. Marine unit the prosecution presented as evidence near the southern Afghan town of Khost. at the trial, purporting to prove that After rejecting appeals to surrender and Khadr had admitted tossing the grenade, killing the Afghan translators sent in to was alleged to have been extracted by negotiate with them, the fighters were intimidation, including the threat of gang subjected to a relentless bombardment rape if he did not co-operate. from the air. Then a Marine Special Forces unit moved in on the besieged Remaining Questions insurgents, firing into their bombed- The Khadr case is unique in many ways out compound. It was at this point that and has raised a number of questions. a grenade was tossed over the wall, Among them are: Is Omar Khadr really landing directly at the feet of Sgt. Chris a committed jihadist, or terrorist, or is Speer, killing him instantly. A few he instead a child soldier? Did Khadr minutes later, a badly wounded Omar in fact throw the grenade that killed the Khadr was dragged from the ruins of the U.S. Marine in Afghanistan? Was Khadr compound, mumbling incoherently. subjected to mistreatment bordering According to Sgt. Layne Morris, who on torture during his confinement at was wounded by the same grenade that Guantanamo? Did Khadr’s trial meet killed Speer, there is no question that international standards of justice? What Omar Khadr was the person who threw will happen to Khadr upon his return to the grenade. But at the trial, Khadr’s Canada after serving an additional year defence team cast serious doubts on the in Guantanamo?

Follow-up 1. With a partner or in a small group, compare your responses with the Focus for Reading at the beginning of this section. What aspects of the case of Omar Khadr do you consider to be most controversial and why?

2. Read, discuss, and respond to the ﬁve questions above concerning the unique and controversial nature of the Khadr case. Share your response with the rest of the class and determine if any consensus can be reached on them.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 13 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR Child Soldiers Reading Prompt As you read this section, make a list of points that could be used to argue the questions: “Can Omar Khadr be considered a child soldier?” and “Should he be considered a child soldier?” Roméo Dallaire is a Canadian senator are signatories—forbids nations or and a retired military officer. In 1994, he belligerent groups at war in civil was the commander of a United Nations conflicts from recruiting anyone under peacekeeping mission in Rwanda where the age of 18 to fight. But despite this a brutal genocide occurred. Almost a protocol, a number of countries and decade later, in 2003, he wrote a book fighting groups in Africa, Asia, and the titled Shake Hands with the Devil, a Middle East make use of child soldiers. graphic account of his experiences in To Dallaire, the phenomenon, however Rwanda and a devastating indictment horrifying to many people in the West, of the international community for its makes a kind of perverse sense. As he failure to take action to prevent the comments, “it may seem unimaginable to slaughter of almost one million people. you that child soldiers exist and yet the One aspect of the brutal conflict reality for many rebel and gang leaders, in Rwanda that particularly troubled and even state governments, is that Dallaire was the use of child soldiers by there is no more complete end-to-end the various militia groups at war with weapon system in the inventory of war each other. But the phenomenon of child machines than the child solder. Man has soldiers is not restricted to Rwanda. created the ultimate cheap, expendable, Unfortunately it is a widespread practice yet sophisticated human weapon at the in many war zones worldwide. As a expense of humanity’s own future: its result of a decade studying the use of children” (Shake Hands With the Devil: child soldiers, Dallaire concludes that as The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, many as 250 000 children, both boys and 2004). girls, may be serving as child soldiers at In October 2010, Dallaire released his the present time. latest book, They Fight Like Soldiers: Children make excellent “cannon They Die Like Children, a call to action fodder,” or disposable fighters, for for people worldwide, especially the those cynical and cold-hearted enough young, to pressure their governments to employ them in combat roles. They to act to ban the practice of using child are often forcibly removed from their soldiers in combat. He created a Web families at an early age and taken to site to promote his campaign and held a isolated military camps for training number of book-launches across Canada and indoctrination. There they are to inform the public and the media of his brainwashed, physically and sexually views on this issue. Coincidentally, the abused, and intimidated into becoming publication of Dallaire’s book coincided mini-fighting machines that their adult with the trial of Omar Khadr. In superiors may use for their own ends. Dallaire’s opinion, there was no question The United Nations Convention on the that Omar Khadr was indeed a child Rights of the Child—to which Canada soldier who had been manipulated and and most of the world’s countries intimidated into fighting for Al Qaeda

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 14 at a young age at the hands of his father standing. It has already happened. [The and other friends and family members. Khadr decision] is going dead against Dallaire was highly critical of the Geneva Conventions we have agreed the Canadian government for not to, the conventions that call for child recognizing Khadr as a child soldier and soldiers to be handled differently and that insisting that he be treated as such while those who use child soldiers to be seen as in U.S. confinement at Guantanamo conducting crimes against humanity. We Bay. In his view, the sentence Khadr have pushed that internationally. We’ve received was a travesty that could serve been tested with one of our own and as a dangerous precedent for other child have failed flagrantly” (The Globe and soldiers facing trial for their actions Mail, November 4, 2010). in the future. In addition, the most Dallaire noted that Canada’s failure important and troubling aspect of the to secure a temporary seat on the UN Khadr case to Dallaire is what it says Security Council in October 2010 may about Canada and its principles. have been partly the result of its position He believes that the federal on the Omar Khadr case. But the federal government’s abandonment of Omar government, along with the U.S. military Khadr signifies a disturbing shift in tribunal that found Khadr guilty, has Canada’s moral values and how they believed all along that he does not meet are communicated to the rest of the the definition of a child soldier since he world. As he notes, “this country is was a willing, and even eager, participant changing its fundamental philosophy in the conflict that cost the life of Marine towards humanity and values and moral Sgt. Speer.

Follow-up 1. With a partner or in a small group, compare your answers in the opening questions. Create a list of pro and con points that could be used to argue either side of each question. Determine which arguments you think are most persuasive and why, and report on your ﬁndings to the class.

2. Why is Roméo Dallaire particularly well qualiﬁed to speak on the issue of child soldiers and their use in conﬂicts worldwide?

3. Why does Dallaire believe that Omar Khadr is a child soldier as far as international agreements on this issue are concerned?

4. What damage does Dallaire think Canada’s position on the Khadr case has caused this country’s international reputation? Do you agree? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 15 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR Mixed Sentiments Instructions The case of Omar Khadr has aroused strong opinions on both sides of the controversy. Here is a selection of commentaries on the issue, presenting very different viewpoints of Omar Khadr’s background, actions, the trial, and his future. For each of the following statements, summarize the main points being made in them, and indicate whether or not you agree with them and why.

“While military trial proceedings may be coming to an end in Omar Khadr’s case, the obligation of the U.S. authorities to address serious concerns about human rights violations suffered by him does not end. The U.S.A. authorities have ignored their international duties in the treatment of children, which was the case when Omar Khadr was arrested eight years ago. The U.S.A. must abandon military commissions and bring any Guantanamo detainee it intends to prosecute to trial in ordinary civilian federal court, in accordance with international fair trial standards. Any detainee it does not intend to prosecute should be immediately released.” — Rob Freer, Amnesty International U.S.A. (www.amnesty.org/en/node/19264)

“Omar Khadr would have been a different person with a different family. So what? So would we all. There’s no retroactive mercy for felons who’ve grown up with lousy parents, in deranged households, taught wickedly in the ways of the world. That defence doesn’t work for child molesters, rapists, and serial killers, many of whom were subjected to horrific mental and physical abuse, scars that never fade. I see no reason why it should be asserted in an absolving excuse for the crimes to which Khadr has now admitted—because he had the misfortune of being born into an Al Qaeda family. Nowhere does there exist an iota of evidence that Khadr regrets anything: not the circumstances of his childhood, the grooming for prepubescent terrorism, the tutoring in explosives-making, the bombs he planted and the grenade he threw, the idolizing of Osama bin Laden, the contempt for Western society—a society which, it should not be forgotten, the odious Khadr clan fled back to at the first opportunity, for all the protections and privileges it affords.” — Rosie Di Manno, columnist (Toronto Star, October 28, 2010)

“Khadr’s guilty plea allows him to be released to a Canadian jail to serve out seven of his eight remaining years. Somehow, I doubt he will remain behind bars once he is remanded to a country that obeys international law about treatment of child soldiers and prohibits abuse, coercion, and torture in interrogations. But it remains a source of shame for Canada’s government that, for so long, it bowed to U.S. pressure and did so little to rescue this misguided teen from the custody he will now have to endure for only one more year. I don’t know how anyone who cares about the integrity and moral standing of the United States can absorb the full details of this case and not be profoundly ashamed. To prosecute a child soldier, already nearly killed in battle, tortured and abused in custody, and to imprison him for this length of time and even now, convict him of charges for which there is next to no proof but his own extorted confessions . . . well, words fail.” — Andres Sullivan, writer (The Atlantic, October 2010, www.andresullivan.theatlantic.com’the-daily-dish/2010/10/omar- khadrs=guilty-plea.html)

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 16 “Mr. Khadr is a polarizing ﬁgure, to put it mildly. To sympathizers, he is a former child soldier who was brainwashed by his family, held without trial for years and obviously mistreated. They argue he deserves rehabilitation, not jail. To foes, he was a hardened young ﬁghter. ‘That wasn’t a panicky teenager we encountered that day,’ Sergeant First Class Layne Morris, who lost his right eye in the ambush, told the Boston Globe last month. ‘That was a trained Al Qaeda operative who wanted to make his last act on earth the killing of an American.’ As far as they’re concerned, it’s a shame we don’t have the power to send the entire Khadr clan packing.” — Margaret Wente, columnist (The Globe and Mail, October 26, 2010)

“Omar Khadr is scaring us silly. Fear and loathing of the man and the extremism he was recruited to serve is more destructive than bombs to the freedoms open societies claim to hold dear. By trampling deﬁned legal and human rights, the U.S. and Canada are handing terrorists a victory they could never have won alone. Sooner rather than later Khadr will return home having exposed our rubbery conﬁdence in values that have guided enlightened democracies through crises for nearly 800 years. That’s quite an accomplishment for a teenager misled into combat by a lunatic father. It couldn’t have been achieved without our help.” — James Travers, columnist (Toronto Star, November 2, 2010)

“I can work up no genuine concern for Omar Khadr, nor, conversely, any real animosity. In this regard, I think I am like a lot of Canadians. I don’t wish him dead or anything but I don’t want him freed, either. All I know is that I don’t want him here in Canada, unless he is in a prison cell. He is both a jihadi and a Canadian citizen. And while there must never be different classes of citizens, I suspect Khadr is more of a jihadi than a Canadian, so my concern for his fate is weak. I don’t blame Khadr fully for how his life has turned out, but I don’t absolve him of all personal blame, either. His father, the Al Qaeda jihadi fundraiser, and his mother, the terrorist sympathizer, are probably mostly at fault for what he has become. But Omar is himself now 23 and shows no remorse for his teenage participation in Islam’s holy war on the West. He may be his father’s son, but he also now has the chance to be his own man and he is showing no signs of regret for his earlier actions. . . . Khadr has not been let down by the Canadian nation, as his Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney insisted. He seems a remorseless individual, who has done all he can, before and since his capture, to spit on the Western values his supporters now appeal to. I blame no Canadian who is indifferent to what happens to him now.” — Lorne Gunter, journalist (National Post, October 27, 2010, www.nationalpost.com/2010/10/27/lorne-gunter-maybe-its-not- khards-fault-but-its-not-mine-either/)

Follow-up 1. With a partner or in a small group, compare the notes you made for each quote. Discuss your responses with your partner and, when you have ﬁnished, present your views to the rest of the class.

2. As you read each of these statements, divide them into two groups: “pro” and “anti” Omar Khadr. What similarities in the arguments and points of view can you identify in each group?

3. In your own words, describe the appeal that each statement seems to be making to the reader. How does the author attempt to win the reader over to her/his point of view? How successful do you think s/he is?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 17 THE TRIAL OF OMAR KHADR Activity: A Letter to Stephen Harper

Ever since he was elected Prime Minister in January 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused to intervene on behalf of Omar Khadr. The position of Harper’s Conservative government was that the charges Khadr faced did not involve Canada. It was, therefore, up to the United States to deal with him. Even after a federal appeal court ruled in early 2009 that the government had an obligation to request Khadr’s return to Canada from captivity at Guantanamo Bay, Harper held firm and appealled the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. In January 2010, the Supreme Court concluded that Khadr’s rights as a Canadian citizen had been violated but made no specific demand that the government seek his repatriation. Although some observers interpreted the court’s ruling as a setback for Harper, the government used it as an argument to continue its policy of inaction and non-involvement in the Khadr case up to the beginning of his trial in August 2010. As part of the plea bargain that Khadr and his lawyers negotiated with U.S. officials in late October, the Canadian government was required to permit his return to this country in order to serve the final seven years of his sentence. Although both Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon denied any involvement in the behind-the-scenes talks leading up to the deal, it later became obvious that the federal government had bowed to U.S. pressure and was reluctantly acquiescing to Khadr’s return home. Throughout the years of controversy the Khadr case has generated, the federal government has come under sustained criticism for its inaction. The three opposition parties, much of the media, and a number of highly regarded organizations such as Amnesty International, the Canadian Bar Association, and the Canadian Council of Churches all called on Harper to act decisively. However, Khadr did plead guilty in a U.S. military court to all charges he was facing. There is no doubt he was trained by Al Qaeda and was involved in a fight against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan where one U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded.

Your Task Now that the case of Omar Khadr has ﬁnally been resolved, write a letter to Prime Minster Stephen Harper and/or Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, expressing your views on how the federal government responded to the capture, imprisonment, and trial of Omar Khadr. In your letter, indicate whether or not you agree with the government’s policy on this matter, and why; and if you disagree, state what alternative position you think the government should have taken. You may want to include arguments or excerpts from the quotes in the Mixed Sentiments section in this Resource Guide on pages 16-17. Mail (no postage required) or e-mail your letter to: Ofﬁce of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 E-mail: [email protected]

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 18 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR Introduction

The thirst for oil—to drive our cars, are needed to turn the bitumen into a Focus heat our homes, make our clothes, and heavy crude oil that can be transported Alberta’s oil sands are a huge money- create plastic water bottles—seems via pipelines to refineries throughout maker, but they unquenchable. To meet the insatiable North America. also have a huge, demand for this depleting resource, The oil sands industry has been given toxic environmental extraction from non-conventional the label of “dirty oil” by environmental footprint. The U.S. sources such as the Alberta oil sands and other opposition groups, in part government wants is taking place at an unprecedented because the oil sands result in the to construct a giant pace. But what about the economic, destruction of boreal forests, increased pipeline that would pump oil from the environmental, social, and political greenhouse gas emissions, and the oil sands into the costs? Recent controversies have creation of toxic tailings ponds. The United States, but shone the spotlight on the oil sands industry plans to expand by building environmentalists industry, resulting in an emerging public new pipelines to U.S. refineries and to aren’t so sure this is relations “war” between supporters and British Columbia’s coast for shipment a good idea. In this opponents. to the growing markets of Asia. These News in Review story According to the Canadian Association expansion plans have further fuelled we’ll look at how both sides are making their of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Canada the anti-oil-sands campaign. The oil views heard. possesses approximately 175 billion sands industry and the government of barrels of oil—the world’s second largest Alberta are fighting back with an array of oil reserve (Saudi Arabia has the largest). advertisements to highlight the benefits Further Research To learn more about Of that number, 170 billion barrels are of their product and to explain how the the Alberta oil sands, in the Alberta oil sands—which consist negative consequences from extraction refer to News in of vast deposits of bitumen, a molasses- and processing will be minimized. As the Review guide material like oil mixed with sand, water, and public relations (PR) war rages between from February 2008 clay—located in northern Alberta. The these two sides, it will be the consumer and April 2009 at extraction of the oil from the sand is an who is left to decide where they stand on http://newsinreview. expensive and energy-intensive process. this contentious oil sands issue. cbclearning.ca. Large quantities of natural gas and water

Vocabulary To Consider A public relations Working with a partner, discuss the following questions. Then join with other war—or PR war— pairs or the entire class for a larger discussion. means that two opposing sides try to 1. How do you use oil and its related products on a daily basis? sway public opinion to their side of an 2. What are the beneﬁts of and concerns about expanding Alberta oil sands argument. production to meet our demands for oil?

3. To what extent are the Alberta oil sands the answer to our energy needs?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 19 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR Video Review

Further Research Pre-viewing Activity Check out previous Copy the following KWL (Know . . . Want to Know . . . Learned . . .) chart into media coverage of your notes. Before watching the video, complete as much of the ﬁrst two the impact of the columns as possible. Alberta oil sands: “The Canadian Oil Boom: KNOW WANT TO KNOW LEARNED Scraping Bottom,” What do I already know What questions do I What have I learned about National Geographic, about the causes leading have about the causes the causes and strategies March 2009; “Bloody to the Alberta oil sands leading to the Alberta used in the Alberta oil Oil: Shut Down the PR war? oil sands PR war? sands PR war? Tar Sands!” New Internationalist, April 2010; “Shifting Sands” showcasing landscape photographs by Edward Burtnsky, Viewing Questions The Globe and As you watch the video, respond to the questions in the spaces provided. Mail 2008 (http:// v1.theglobeandmail. 1. To where is most of Canada’s oil sands oil exported? com/oilsands/). 2. Why do some people want the Keystone XL pipeline extended?

3. List the concerns about extending the Keystone XL pipeline.

4. Who is James Cameron supporting in the oil sands debate and why?

5. Complete the following T-chart to record the strategies and arguments used by opponents and supporters of the oil sands. Oil sands supporters vs. Oil sands opponents

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 20 6. Why is there no clear winner in the oil sands PR battle?

7. What recent events have tarnished the oil industry’s image? Can they afford this negative publicity at this time? Explain.

8. Do the PR campaigns raise your awareness of issues linked to the oil sands? Explain why or why not.

Post-viewing Activities 1. Return to your KWL chart and complete the third column (with the heading “What have I learned about the causes and strategies used in the Alberta oil sands PR war?”) You may also wish to use some of the information in this News in Review Resource Guide to complete this task.

2. a) What is your position on or opinion about the Alberta oil sands? Do you strongly support or oppose the continued development of the oil sands? Are you somewhere in between?

b) How have the PR campaigns altered or solidiﬁed your position on the Alberta oil sands issue? Be prepared to orally share your thoughts and rationale with your classmates.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 21 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR Context Focus for Reading As you read the following information, complete the Multiple Consequence Web Diagram. A copy of this diagram can be downloaded from the News in Review Web site at http://newsinreview.cbclearning.ca by clicking on the “Worksheets” tab and then “Analyzing Cause and Consequence.” Place the words “Alberta oil sands” in the triangle. In the boxes surrounding the triangle (you may add or connect boxes if needed) record the consequences generated by this issue.

Background Information open-pit mining, which clears surface The Alberta oil sands—also referred to vegetation. From the mines, the oil sands as “tar sands”—are not only a valuable are dug up and mixed with hot water to non-renewable resource, but have also separate the sand and bitumen, resulting become a complex and controversial in heavy, crude oil. This process uses issue. These vast deposits of bitumen, a a great deal of both water and energy. molasses-like oil mixed with sand, water, Once the bitumen is heated or diluted and clay, are found beneath with lighter hydrocarbons it can be 140 000 square kilometres of boreal transported along pipelines to reﬁneries forest in northern Alberta (and some for processing into “useable” oil. parts of Saskatchewan). Peace River, The remaining bitumen, which is Athabasca, and Cold Lake house the located deep within the ground, is major deposits that are currently being extracted by in situ methods—Latin for mined. “in place”—which are more expensive, technically specialized, and produce greater amounts of greenhouse gases than open-pit mining. The extraction, processing, and transportation of resources from the oil sands have a number of economic, political, environmental, and social impacts.

Economic Beneﬁts According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Alberta’s oil sands are estimated to house 173 billion barrels of oil. Production is expected to last for the next 150 years. The numerous companies producing or investing in the oil sands generate billions of dollars of revenue through royalties and taxation for the provincial and federal governments. The Canadian Energy Research Institute estimates that Approximately 20 per cent of Alberta’s the industry will invest over $200-billion oil sands are recoverable through over the next 25 years, which translates

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 22 into thousands of jobs created in Alberta, be implemented by the industry and the Did you know . . . across Canada, and into the U.S. provincial government. These and other Over one million barrels a day of Even with the recent economic environmental casualties from oil sands Alberta oil sands crude recession, CAPP’s revised forecasts development have not only tarnished was exported to the continue to show industry growth, albeit the image of the industry, but have also United States in 2010, at a slower pace—and by 2020, Canada fuelled an aggressive anti-oil-sands and this is estimated is predicted to become one of the world’s public relations campaign. to increase to 1.3 top five oil-producing countries. As the oil sands are predicted to million barrels a day As global consumption of oil expand, so too are the greenhouse gas by 2012. increases, the price of oil has more than emissions created from the burning of doubled from its low point of $30.28/ natural gas required to heat water for the Further Research barrel in December 2008. bitumen separation process. According to Go to the government a 2010 report from the Pembina Institute, of Alberta’s Web New Pipelines an organization committed to advancing site at www.energy. sustainable energy solutions, greenhouse alberta.ca/OurBusiness/ The planned construction of pipelines to oilsands.asp for deliver heavy oil from Alberta to U.S. gas emissions are expected to nearly additional statistics, Midwest markets and refineries along triple between 2008 and 2020. This maps, and Q&A the Gulf Coast is viewed as a long-term emissions increase calls into question information. replacement for dwindling supplies from Canada’s ability to meet its meager 17 Venezuela and Mexico and as a means per cent reduction targets by 2020 as to secure energy supplies. To meet the stated at the Copenhagen climate talks. energy demands of a growing Asian The recent demise of Bill C-311— market, the oil sands have attracted new the Climate Change Accountability investment by companies from China Act—in the Senate leaves Canada and South Korea. The proposed pipeline without a comprehensive plan or policy to carry oil to the British Columbia coast to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. and then onto tankers headed for Asia Although federal environment minister may also contribute to expanded oil Jim Prentice announced in October sands production. 2010 the establishment of a Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) Environmental Costs to review environmental monitoring in The Alberta oil sands development the oil sands by an independent panel comes at a huge environmental cost. of scientists, it remains to be seen if Many scientists, researchers, and some this program can begin to address the politicians believe that much of the environmental concerns linked to the environmental damage already caused Alberta oil sands. by oil sands extraction and processing is likely irreversible. This damage includes Political Implications the destruction of thousands of square Called an “energy superpower” by Prime kilometres of boreal forest, the removal Minister Stephen Harper, Alberta plays of massive amounts of water from the a pivotal role in supplying the United Athabasca River, and the creation of States with energy resources. This was giant tailings ponds that hold the toxic exemplified when Alberta Premier Ed chemical byproducts of the extraction Stelmach took a group of U.S. state process. The recent controversy of legislators around the oil sands and met thousands of ducks dying after landing with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House on these ponds heightens calls for more of Representatives and vocal supporter of stringent environmental regulations to clean energy initiatives, to discuss energy

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 23 security, the economy, and oil sands Social Concerns development. The U.S. ambassador to Fort McMurray once had a population Canada, David Jacobson, stated that of 1 600 residents. Forty years later, it energy and the impact that oil sands has grown to 65 000. The rapid influx development has on the environment will of workers from across Canada and become one of the most prominent and around the world to work in the oil sands potentially controversial issues between created a number of challenges such as the two countries. With the prospects lack of infrastructure, minimal affordable of thousands of jobs and billions of housing, high cost of living, substance dollars of investment generated in the abuse, and a growing crime rate. United States as a result of Alberta oil For remote First Nations communities sands pipeline projects coupled with such as Fort Chipewyan, situated a reconfigured political landscape in downstream along the Athabasca River, Congress, it is unlikely that the Obama the impact of oil sands production administration will impose clean-fuel on human health and animal life has regulations on Canadian oil sands been a long-standing concern. The industries. residents of Fort Chipewyan are Within Canada, a political strain thought to experience elevated cancer between Alberta and Ontario surfaced rates resulting from contaminants in during the recent economic recession. their water supply and the surrounding Ontario argued that the Alberta oil boom landscape where they hunt and fish, inflated the value of the Canadian dollar, although this is not fully recognized by making export goods more expensive Alberta Health and Wellness. The health and resulting in job losses in Ontario’s issues of Fort Chipewyan’s residents once powerful manufacturing sector. garnered attention from Hollywood Alberta contends that the oil sands director James Cameron, who visited generate spin-off jobs and revenue across and found it appalling that people in this the country. To help mend fences these community were getting sick. He urged two provinces co-hosted a conference to the government to further investigate the develop innovations aimed to “green” issue. the oil sands.

Follow-up 1. With a partner or in a small group compare your answers from the Focus for Reading Activity. Which consequence(s) do you think the public would be most concerned about and why? How do you think opponents and supporters of the oil sands would use these consequences in a PR advertisement?

2. Go to CBC Edmonton’s Web site at www.cbc.ca/edmonton/features/dirtyoil/ photogallery.html. Scroll through each of the oil sands images on the site and read the corresponding captions. Using evidence from the images, answer the following questions: • How is the landscape being altered by oil sands production? • What type of equipment and techniques are used to extract and process the oil sands? • Why do you think environmental and human health concerns are at the forefront of the oil sands issue? • How do the images make you feel about the oil sands? Is it a necessary or destructive resource?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 24 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR Recent Controversies

Definition Focus for Reading Tailings ponds For each of the following controversies, answer the five “Ws” in your notebook: are waste-water What is happening? Where is it happening? When is it happening? Who is containment areas involved? Why is it happening? that contain a toxic mix of water, clay, Opponents of the Alberta oil sands claim to the court ruling, Syncrude warned leftover bitumen, and that oil sands production is “dirty oil” that the decision and fine, the largest heavy metals. because of the environmental impact, environmental penalty in Alberta court the proposed construction of additional history, could have dire consequences crude oil pipelines, and unresolved issues for the oil sands industry. Although the around energy security with emission environmental group Greenpeace felt reductions for North America. These that the court ruling was important, they controversial issues have garnered didn’t feel it was a harsh enough penalty significant media attention and raised for the multi-billion-dollar industry. questions about the sustainability of the Just days after the court fined oil sands. Syncrude, the company faced further negative publicity when hundreds Dead Ducks more ducks died in the tailings pond at In April 2008, images of bitumen- Mildred Lake, north of Fort McMurray. covered ducks and the subsequent death At the time this guide went to print, the of over 1 600 ducks were reported Alberta Ministry of the Environment had after these birds landed on a 12-square- issued an investigation. But the Pembina kilometre tailings pond at Syncrude Institute, a prominent environmental Canada’s oil sands mine near Fort group, says the government needs to McMurray, Alberta. Syncrude was focus on cleaning up the 840 billion found guilty in June 2010 of breaking litres of tailings that continue to grow provincial and federal wildlife laws and and to eventually purge all toxic ponds was held legally responsible for the dead (The Globe and Mail, October 27, 2010). ducks. The company had failed to install The Syncrude controversy highlights the adequate deterrence techniques such as difficulty in managing the tailing ponds air cannons or scarecrows around its and the larger environmental challenges tailings pond despite the Alberta Energy facing this industry. Resources Conservation Board policies that require companies to have effective Pipelines deterrence systems in place and to set Oil and natural gas are transported target dates for the reclamation of these throughout North America via an ponds back to their natural state. extensive system of pipelines. Two of Syncrude was later charged a fine of Canada’s largest pipeline companies— $3-million, which included $2.2-million Enbridge Incorporated and TransCanada to fund research on how to improve Corporation—which are headquartered methods to keep migratory birds away in Calgary, have plans to expand their from the tailing ponds and to restore networks from terminals in Alberta to the wetlands habitat (The Toronto the U.S. Midwest, the U.S. Gulf Coast, Star, October 23, 2010). In response and to the coast of British Columbia.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 25 These pipelines have heightened the pipeline construction was completed on Definition debate between providing secure energy April 1, 2010, and was expected to be Crude oil— unprocessed oil, also for North America and environmental fully operational, delivering a targeted known as petroleum— concerns. 450 000 barrels of crude oil per day by is a fossil fuel that the end of 2010 (The Globe and Mail, comes in a variety of Keystone XL Pipeline August 21, 2009). colours and viscosity. TransCanada Corporation is seeking Despite the over 3 000 construction Oil sands crude is a approval from the U.S. State Department jobs created by it in the United States, dark, thick, tar-like to build a pipeline extension called this pipeline has faced much criticism substance that is refined to separate the the Keystone XL. This pipeline would from U.S. environmental groups and different hydrocarbons use existing and new lines to deliver legislators who cite destruction of the to produce gasoline 500 000 barrels of heavy crude per boreal forest and increased greenhouse for cars. day—roughly enough to fill a very large gas emissions. As well, major oil municipal water tower—from the oil producing companies—such as Suncor sands to refineries along the U.S. Gulf and Imperial Oil—are questioning the Coast. The company’s rationale for this necessity of yet another pipeline when pipeline cites less heavy oil coming from U.S. demand for crude oil is in decline. traditional suppliers like Venezuela and Mexico, and job creation in the United Dirty Oil vs. Energy Security States. Renewed attention to the Alberta oil This pipeline has been criticized both sands has called into question the economically and environmentally. It role that this resource will have in the is thought that the demand for oil has energy future of the U.S. Environmental peaked in the U.S. and that there will activists such as the Rainforest Action be little growth in the next decade. Network have touted the oil sands as There are environmental concerns the “dirtiest oil on Earth [that] has no about the impact that a pipeline leak place in a U.S. clean energy future” (The could have on the Ogallala Aquifer—a Globe and Mail, September 17, 2009). vital groundwater source for eight Supporters like the Consumer Energy states across the Plains. Despite these Alliance argue that Canada is a critical concerns—and further protests from supplier of secure, affordable energy to over 50 U.S. legislators—Secretary of American consumers. According to the State Hilary Clinton has stated that she Cambridge Energy Research Associates is “inclined” to back this $12-billion (CERA), the United States will remain pipeline expansion project (Maclean’s, the world’s biggest oil market. August 16, 2010). The approval of the Alberta Clipper pipeline and the U.S. State Department’s Alberta Clipper Pipeline favourable stance toward the Keystone Enbridge—which operates the XL pipeline proposal signal a shift in the world’s longest crude oil and liquids Obama administration’s electoral pledge transportation system throughout Canada for national clean energy initiatives. and the United States—plans to continue A sluggish U.S. economy and high its pipeline expansion to selected unemployment rates may result in the regions in the U.S. The $3.3-billion U.S. government having to embrace Alberta Clipper pipeline project will use the Alberta oil sands rather than stick existing and new pipelines to transport to its principles about clean energy mainly oil sands crude from Alberta alternatives. to Wisconsin. The 1 600 kilometre

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 26 Follow-up 1. Select one of the controversies on the previous pages. Using your information from the Focus for Reading activity, prepare a “late-breaking news report” that brieﬂy describes the controversy and explains why it is a contentious topic. Add any up-to-date information you can locate through research into this controversy. Your news report can be delivered either orally or in writing.

2. Working in a group of four, debate whether you agree or disagree that the oil sands industry should be labelled as “dirty oil.” Two members of the group take the “agree” side and the other two members take the “disagree” side. Use information from this Resource Guide to prepare your arguments. Once you have exhausted your points, switch sides and debate the topic again from a different perspective!

3. As a Canadian, do you think it hypocritical to oppose the oil sands and related projects like the pipelines while enjoying the beneﬁts of a fossil- fuel economy? Write a one-page personal response to this question. Think about your everyday uses of oil as well as the information you have learned in this Resource Guide.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 27 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR The PR War

Quote Reading Prompt “A good neighbour Have you seen or read any of the advertisements or Web sites either opposing lends you a cup or defending the Alberta oil sands? If so, try to recall the message, how it was of sugar. A great conveyed, and whether or not it was effective. You may wish to orally share your neighbour supplies recollection with the class prior to reading. While you read this section, make a you with 1.4 million list of the strategies that both sides use in their public relations (PR) campaigns. barrels of oil per day. Let’s work together The recent controversies linked to the potential tourists by drawing awareness to develop a North Alberta oil sands have re-ignited much to the destruction the oil sands have American energy debate about this energy resource. caused to the area’s natural beauty. solution that is realistic and secure.” — Ed In the wake of the BP Gulf oil spill Another environmental group, Forest Stelmach, Premier of and the Copenhagen climate change Ethics, has contacted Fortune 500 Alberta (statement conference, growing public concern companies and asked them to boycott from the Government has focused on fossil fuel use and its transportation providers who use of Alberta’s one-half impact on the environment. The result? Alberta oil sands crude. To date, six page advertisement in Over the past 18 months, varied groups companies, most notably Whole Foods, The Washington Post, who oppose or defend the oil sands The Gap, and Levi Strauss have joined July 2010) have begun to wage a PR “war” to this boycott. Interestingly, Bed Bath and express their viewpoints and to mobilize Beyond initially supported this boycott Did you know . . . public support at home and abroad. but then altered its position after coming James Cameron’s Advertisements, media publications, under intense pressure from businesses blockbuster film documentaries, retail boycotts, protests, and consumers in Alberta. Avatar is about a and even personal commentaries given James Cameron, the Canadian-born native community by famous Canadians are examples of Hollywood director of films like The overrun by evil, resource-hungry the “weaponry” used by both sides in Titanic added significant star power and colonists. The film was this PR war. media attention to the oil sands PR war in theatres before when he toured the region and met with Cameron visited the Oil Sands: Opposition Strategies the Alberta Premier, industry executives, oil sands. A wide range of tactics have been used and local aboriginal leaders. Prior to by oil sands opponents to attach the his visit he stated that the oil sands are “dirty oil” label to the industry. For a black eye on Canada. After his visit example, Greenpeace had activists sneak Cameron called for a moratorium on into three mines located in the Fort future oil sands development until the McMurray area and place huge banners environmental and health consequences reading “Tar Sands: Climate Crime.” are further investigated. This embarrassing tactic not only halted the operation of the mines and called Oil Sands: Defence Strategies into question their security, but photos of Trying to counter the “dirty oil” the banner were sent around the world, image has not been an easy task for reinforcing a negative image of the the oil sands industry. They initially industry. A coalition of environmental responded by holding conversations groups used widespread media strategies with smaller audiences outlining the such as YouTube videos, Web sites, benefits, technological advances, and billboard ads, and postcards to launch improved environmental impact of oil their Rethink Alberta campaign to deter sands production. They then expanded

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 28 to Twitter feeds and Web sites such as Rather than focusing on explaining the Canada’s Oil Sands site created by the company’s ﬁnancial aspects in the Canadian Association of Petroleum the newspaper’s business section, Producers (CAPP). The industry also Cenovus ads can been seen in consumer paid for advertisements in smaller U.S. magazines, before a movie at the cinema, publications such as the Washington and on the Internet. And Syncrude Times and The Hill to counter anti-oil- Canada runs local radio ads where sands lobbies. employees describe how their company The industry later recognized that this is using methods to better manage tailing low-key strategy was not working and ponds and to remind the public that embarked on a more publicly visible they are one of the largest employers of and aggressive campaign to clean up aboriginal people. their image by focusing on the industry’s advantages. For example, CAPP Will there be a truce? communicated its own “responsible The Alberta oil sands PR war is like a oil” slogan through newspaper and high-stakes tennis match—back and television ads showing photographs of forth between the industry supporters the natural features and explaining how who are trying to re-image themselves the industry is working hard to protect by showcasing the advantages of the oil the environment. sands and the industry opponents who Cenovus Energy Inc., a Canadian have labelled the oil sands as “dirty.” The company operating in the oil sands, has one common ground is that the various embarked on an edgy multi-million- PR strategies used by both sides have dollar advertising campaign to get raised public awareness and discussion people thinking about the uses of oil— about the role that the oil sands play to from ultrasounds to prosthetic limbs. meet energy our needs.

Analysis 1. Using your list of PR strategies recorded when reading this section, select a minimum of three strategies that you think most effectively convey the message from the opponents and/or supporters of the oil sands. Rank these strategies—ﬁrst, second, third—and explain your rationale for each. Share your selections with a partner.

2. Scenario: James Cameron has just informed the Government of Alberta that he will be visiting the oil sands for a second time in the near future. His visit will likely again bring extensive media attention. As a communications advisor, you need to suggest a couple of PR strategies for the Premier to use prior to, during, and after Cameron’s visit.

3. Do you think that PR campaigns are an effective way to raise public awareness about oil sands issues, or do the catchy slogans and glitzy ads cause the public to lose sight of the important aspects of this issue? Join with a small group of students to discuss your responses.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 29 THE OIL SANDS AND THE PR WAR Activity: Design your own PR campaign!

Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian scholar and media professor, coined the famous expression “the medium is the message.” This means that the form of a medium (e.g., television, print, social networking) can inﬂuence how the message is perceived. The PR strategies used in the oil sands debate exemplify this quote— whether it is a television ad showing a gently ﬂowing river in the background and an industry engineer explaining how their company is protecting the environment or a full-page colour photo of a duck suffocating under a layer of bitumen.

Your Task You are to design your own PR campaign about the Alberta oil sands. Refer back to information in this Resource Guide to decide which aspect of the oil sands you would like to communicate. For example: do you oppose or support one of the pipeline projects, do you want to see more forceful regulations of the tailings ponds, or do you think the public needs to know more about the beneﬁts of the oil sands?

Start by examining the following Web sites, which showcase the various strategies used in the current oil sands PR “war.” For each PR strategy record the message, the techniques being used to convey the message, and assess whether the strategy captures the viewer’s attention and effectively communicates the message. • More than Fuel: www.cenovus.com (view the ads under “More than Fuel”) • Rethink Alberta: http://rethinkalberta.com • Canada’s Oil Sands: www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/ • Greenpeace Canada: www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/tarsands/

Choose the medium for your PR campaign. Possible suggestions include a poster display, slideshow, Web page, mock FaceBook page, audio or video presentation, and photographs. Just remember that your PR campaign needs to: • have speciﬁc, accurate, and factual information • take a stance on a particular aspect of the oil sands issue • be visually and/or orally creative and appealling • contain catchy slogan(s)

Present your PR campaign to your class members either in a digital or hard- copy format. Provide your constructive comments about the “medium” and the “message” used in at least three of your peers’ campaigns. Did it effectively and creatively convey the message? Did it raise your awareness about the oil sands issue? Did it change your position on this issue?

Review the comments from your peers about your PR campaign. Brieﬂy outline what aspect of the oil sands issue your next PR campaign will focus on and what strategies you plan to use.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 30 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING Introduction An anti-bullying campaign reached consistently say publicly that bullying Focus unprecedented heights after a simple is not good for anyone, the presence The perennial problem of bullying YouTube video of journalist Dan Savage of bullying, particularly in schools, achieved international and his partner Terry Miller appealling continues to be a signiﬁcant problem. headlines in the fall to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Bullying is intentional. Bullies seek of 2010 after a string (LGBT) teens went viral. Their message to publicly humiliate a person or group of bullying-related to LGBT youth: do your best to survive with no regard for the pain and anguish suicides led to a viral high school because once you graduate they are causing. In fact, bullies enjoy Internet campaign to your life will get better. The two men the negative power they wield and the convince victims that things will get better. made the video in response to the suicide corresponding pain they cause their This News in Review of Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old boy who victims. story looks at the was teased, tormented, and bullied It is encouraging to see the attention campaign as well as for being gay. Lucas was one of four that Savage and Miller’s simple yet the overall problem of American teens to take their lives over a profound message was able to garner bullying. three-week period in the fall of 2010. for the cause of gay youth, youth who Savage’s It Gets Better campaign are questioning their sexuality, and all Vocabulary surged in popularity shortly after people who are victims of bullying. Only When a video goes being posted on YouTube, drawing two months after the original video was “viral” it means that international attention and eventually posted, 5 000 other It Gets Better videos the video has travelled inspiring U.S. President Barack Obama have been posted, and these had been all around the Internet to post his own It Gets Better video in an viewed by about 15 million people. Now and been posted on effort to curb bullying and the suicides the project has its own Web site, and it is YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, it was provoking. More than anything, hoped that lives are being saved because Facebook, Digg, blogs, the It Gets Better campaign highlighted a lifeline has been extended to lesbian, etc., and has been the persistence of bullying despite the gay, bisexual, and transgender youth viewed by millions of emergence of powerful anti-bullying who live in daily torment at the hands of people. education initiatives in the past decade. bullies in their local high schools. While people, both young and old, will To Consider 1. For what reasons might Savage and Miller have made their It Gets Better video?

2. Have you, or someone you know, experienced bullying? If so, what was the impact of the bullying?

3. If you were to create your own anti-bullying video, what messages would you want to include?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 31 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING Video Review

Further Research Pre-viewing Questions To see the Dan Savage With a partner, or in a small group, respond to the following questions. and Terry Miller video, 1. What examples of bullying, if any, have you seen at your school? go to youtube.com and type “it gets better” in the search box. A list of videos that are part of the It 2. What would you do if you saw someone being bullied at your school? Gets Better project will pop up, including the original video made by Savage and Miller. 3. Do the media—television, ﬁlms, the Internet, etc.—make it seem like bullying is okay? Explain.

4. Are there particular groups at your school that are commonly victimized by bullies? Identify the groups and state why you think these groups are being targeted.

Viewing Questions As you watch the video respond to the questions in the spaces provided. 1. According to the Journal of Pediatrics, how common is bullying?

2. What do bullies want their victims to feel?

3. What is cyber-bullying? How common is this form of bullying?

4. What bullying issues did the animated cartoon South Park inspire?

5. What does the research show about children who bully? What are they more likely to become involved in later in life?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 32 6. What kind of kid was Ashkan Sultani? Why do his parents think bullies Check It Out! targeted him? Surf the anti-bullying campaign site at www. itgetsbetter.org.

7. Why did Ashkan Sultani’s parents refuse to take part in the school board’s anti-bullying campaign?

8. What Internet phenomenon emerged from the suicide tragedies of the summer of 2010?

9. What was U.S. President Barack Obama’s message to the victims of bullying?

10. How common is bullying directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students attending Canadian schools?

11. What was Rick Mercer’s message to homosexuals victimized by bullies?

12. What did Brian Burke do to ﬁght homophobia and bullying in honour of his son, Brendan?

13. Describe the anti-bullying campaign created by students at a Nova Scotia high school. How did the campaign start? Who was involved? How effective was the campaign?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 33 14. How effective do you think the Canadian It Gets Better video will be in comforting Canadian LGBT teens who are being harassed and bullied at school?

15. What is the overall message that the anti-bullying campaigns are trying to communicate? Is the message being embraced?

Post-viewing Discussion With a partner, or in a small group, help each other to complete the answers to the viewing questions. Then discuss the following:

1. Is homophobia a problem at your school?

2. Do you think it is considered acceptable for people who are labelled gay to be bullied at your school?

3. Are students less likely to intervene in bullying if it is directed at a gay student, or one who is suspected of being gay? Explain.

4. What will it take to stem the tide of bullying against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 34 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING What is Bullying?

Deﬁnition Reading Prompt Bullying is when Bullying can be terrifying and can destroy a person’s life. Like many problems in someone repeatedly society, stamping out bullying when children are young is more effective than and intentionally does trying to deal with a bully later in life. As you read the following information things to hurt another think about strategies that might work to reduce bullying among young person physically or children. emotionally. There are three types of characteristics c) Spreading lies and rumours — this associated with bullying: a) the bully type of bullying goes beyond simple Did you know . . . intentionally targets the victim; b) the gossip; instead the goal of the bully is The “power-hungry bully repeatedly goes after the victim; to spread false information about the bully” enjoys the and c) there is a power imbalance intended victim. This type of bullying feeling of having power over another between the bully and the victim. The involves a leader working through a person. He or she also bully enjoys the prospect of humiliating group in a campaign to humiliate the enjoys the attention his or her victim and often thrives on the victim. that accompanies this public attention given by bystanders— d) Exclusion — when a bully leads a demonstration of whether that attention is fear or support. group in a public decision to exclude power. Victims of bullying are either unlikely or the intended victim from participation incapable of defending themselves. in activities. The goal of this type of bullying is to make the victim feel as Physical Bullying isolated as possible. This involves any kind of physical assault on the victim, including shoving, e) Cyber-bullying — using electronic punching, kicking, and spitting. This media to bully another person. This type of bullying may also involve taking could involve phones, texting, social things from the victim. With physical networking sites like Facebook, or bullying, the bully is trying to arouse a chat rooms. Cyber-bullying has been victim’s fear for their own safety. cause for tremendous concern recently because the bullies are often difﬁcult to Verbal Bullying identify since they can hide behind the a) Teasing — using insults, slurs, or technology. They can also inspire others taunts to belittle another person. This is to take part in their bullying campaign not the general teasing that friends use with a kind of gang mentality eventually to poke fun at one another. This type of emerging. On the other hand, the victim teasing is designed to belittle the victim. is completely exposed—the target of a Bullies often resort to homophobic, person or group that they cannot easily racist, sexist, and offensive language identify. when targeting their victims. What can you do if you are bullied? b) Threatening — a form of verbal • Monitor your feelings. Assess the bullying where a person says they are situation and make sure you are not going to do something even though they overreacting. Try to determine if the may not necessarily follow through on the bully is intentionally doing harm and threat. For example, a bully may threaten how the harm is being delivered. If it’s to spread rumours about the victim if they bullying it will be clear the bully is don’t do something for them. intentionally trying to hurt you.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 35 • Talk to an adult or someone in charge. • Stay close to your friends. Avoid Talk to your parents, your teacher, or situations where you are isolated or on your boss to let them know that the your own. Bullies like to target their bullying is taking place. Bullies get victims when they are at their most most of the power from the silence of vulnerable. They are less likely to bully others. Don’t maintain your silence. when their victim is part of a cohesive • Demand action. If authorities are not group. handling the situation properly, get • Take care of yourself. Bullying can your parents involved and demand cause serious emotional damage. Make action. School boards, workplaces, and sure you do things to keep your self- governments all have regulations to esteem intact. Activities might include deter bullying. Use the policies or laws playing sports, pursuing a hobby, or available to force the hand of people joining a club. who are reluctant to deal with the bullies. Source: The Canadian Safe Schools Network, www.canadiansafeschools. • Appear strong in the presence of the com; Olweus Bullying Prevention bully. While this may be easier said Program, www.olweus.org; “Attacked than done, bullies are less likely to Online,” Girls’ Life, August-September persist if they can see that they are not 2010; “What to do if you are being getting to you. If you can project an bullied,” American Mental Health Channel: Healthy Place, www. image of confidence—even if you a healthyplace.com terrified inside—the bully may back off. However, there is no guarantee that the bully will not simply persist until they break your confident exterior.

Analysis Complete a written response to the opening reading prompt and compare your response with that of a classmate. Add any points you had not considered to your own notes.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 36 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING Tragic Tales of Bullying

Did you know . . . To Consider For youth who are The information in this feature focuses on the tragic stories of students who struggling with have been the targets of bullies—and where the bullying led to their deaths. issues like anxiety Although they may be extreme examples, they demonstrate that bullying is not and depression, or something we should ignore. the repercussions of bullying, there is help. Tormented to Death in Cyber-Bullying Leads to Suicide: Call the Kids Help Massachusetts: Phoebe Prince, Alexis Pilkington, 17 years of age Phone at 1-800-668- 16 years of age The native of Long Island, New 6868. When the native of Ireland arrived in York, was said to be very popular and South Hadley, Massachusetts, she was an established soccer star, earning greeted by an almost instant state of a scholarship for her efforts from a acceptance and popularity. She became nearby college. But beneath the surface, the girlfriend of the quarterback of the Pilkington was dealing with personal school’s football team and appeared demons that led to her suicide in the to have transitioned into life in a new early spring of 2010. In the aftermath country with surprising ease. Things of her suicide, her friends pointed out came undone quickly when her that the teen was being cyber-bullied on boyfriend left her for his ex-girlfriend. Facebook and Formspring. While her Insulting slurs began surfacing on parents maintain that Pilkington did not Facebook. Her face was scribbled out of kill herself just because she was cyber- a class composite picture hanging in the bullied, experts believe that the cruelty school’s hallway. A classmate confronted inherent in comments made by cyber- her in the cafeteria, screaming, “Stay bullies carry a power that can lead to away from other people’s men!” Finally, extreme anxiety and depression. In other as she was walking home from school words, the cyber-bullying likely played a one day, a car full of classmates sped part in her decision to take her own life. past her, shouted an insult, and threw a Local police began investigating pop can at her. Prince had reached her the cyber-bullying allegations and breaking point. She walked the rest of discovered hundreds of extremely the way home and killed herself. disturbing posts denigrating Pilkington. In the aftermath of Prince’s death, six Even more troubling news came when, students from South Hadley High School after her death, friends put up tribute were charged with crimes ranging from pages for her on both Facebook and criminal harassment to statutory rape. Formspring so they could express their Beyond the legal problems the six grief and remember their friend. Within accused face, the accused are struggling days, both sites were inﬁltrated by a to ﬁt in with a community that is slew of negative posts and some graphic repulsed by their behaviour. Some claim images from people who just couldn’t that the bullies are now being given a stop attacking the young woman. Even in taste of what it is like to be bullied. death, the bullies would not relent when it came to Alexis Pilkington.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 37 Four Suicides in Three Weeks: Billy Another 13-year-old, Seth Walsh, was Did you know . . . Lucas, 15; Asher Brown, 13; Seth also tormented by his classmates for The “vengeful bully” Walsh, 13; Tyler Clementi, 18 mistakenly believes being gay. Eventually Walsh attempted to they are acting in Between September 9 and 29, 2010, take his own life, only to be discovered the interests of the four U.S. teenagers killed themselves by his mother and rushed to hospital. group based on some in bullying-related incidents. The ﬁrst However, 10 days later Walsh died as a behaviour the victim was Billy Lucas, whose short tenure at result of his injuries. has exhibited. This Greenburg High School in Indiana was Eighteen-year-old Tyler Clementi had type of bully might tap plagued by taunting and bullying. While into a group’s racist or high hopes when he began attending homophobic feelings he never claimed to be gay, some of his Rutgers University. While he had a to target a victim. classmates though he “acted gay,” calling bit of a personality conﬂict with his him “faggot” and telling him he should roommate, Clementi hoped that, over kill himself. The bullying was well time, the two would learn to get along. known among the student population, but However, his roommate, Dharun Ravi, the school administration and teachers apparently had no such plans. One were oblivious to the torment Lucas evening in September, Ravi remotely was enduring. One day after school, just taped Clementi having sex with another weeks into the school year, Lucas took man. Ravi then streamed the video his own life. images over the Internet on his Twitter Asher Brown’s story is disturbingly feed. Within days, Clementi learned of similar. The 13-year-old was bullied by Ravi’s actions and his intentions to do four boys over a prolonged period of it again given the opportunity. Clementi time. His family believes he was bullied eventually made his way to a local bridge to death, targeted because he was small, and jumped to his death. Before killing from a lower income family, a member himself, Clementi posted a note on his of a certain religion, and because the Facebook page that read, “Jumping off bullies believed he was gay. Brown took the gd bridge sorry.” his own life in late September.

To Consider 1. The people who bullied Phoebe Prince now appear to be victims of a kind of bullying themselves. How do you feel about that?

2. What role did cyber-bullying play in the death of Alexis Pilkington? Why do you think some people continued to cyber-bully Pilkington after her death?

3. Evaluate the actions of Dharun Ravi in the death of Tyler Clementi. To what extent do you believe he is responsible for the death of Clementi?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 38 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING It Gets Better

Did you know . . . Focus for Reading LGBT teens are four Have you ever been told that high school will be the best time of your life? Has times more likely to this been your experience? Is this the experience of your friends or members or commit suicide than your family? Respond to these questions in your notebook before your begin their heterosexual reading the following feature. counterparts. The Viral Video contributors hold the position that the Dan Savage is a successful people who say that the high school Further Research internationally syndicated columnist. He years are the best time in a person’s life The Web site for It is powerful advocate for gay rights and, are selling a myth. Gets Better is www. in the summer of 2010, he came to the Certainly some people love high itgetsbetter.org. The school, but many others find it to site for The Trevor conclusion that he needed to expand his Project is www. involvement in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, be a time of searching, probing, and thetrevorproject.org. and transgender (LGBT) community by confusion over personal issues like speaking out against anti-gay bullying. self-identity and self-worth. This is In August 2010, he founded the It Gets particularly true for LGBT youth who, in Better Project, and one month later he addition to having to discover who they and his partner, Terry Miller, posted a are, frequently have to ward off bullying YouTube video highlighting the “it gets and harassment. For some, it is just too better” message. much to bear and they resort to suicide. The video went viral, inspiring The It Gets Better Project is designed to 5 000 user-made videos that received help LGBT youth realize that others have 15 million hits just eight weeks into the walked the same path they are on right video portion of the project. Included now and that someday, in the not too among the videos were messages distant future, it will get better. from U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, The Trevor Project Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, actors Savage and his colleagues are not the Ann Hathaway and Colin Farrell, talk only ones trying to help LGBT teens. In show host Ellen DeGeneres, and Glee 1998, The Trevor Project was founded star Matthew Morrison. The project also when HBO decided to air the Academy features videos from the staffs of the Award-winning short film called CBC, Google, the GAP, Facebook, and “Trevor.” The film is about a 13-year-old Pixar animation. boy named Trevor who is rejected by his peers because of his sexuality. The film It Gets Better ends with Trevor, a victim of isolation, Savage was motivated to start It Gets exclusion, and bullying, attempting to Better by the tragic suicides of several take his own life. gay and questioning teens in the United Just prior to airing the film, the States. He imagined that, if he had just producers thought it would be a few minutes to speak with the young appropriate to share a phone number or men before they made the decision to resource for LGBT youth who might be take their own lives, he would say to experiencing the same issues as Trevor. them, “Hang in there because it gets When they discovered that there were better.” Many of the project’s video no help lines or resources The Trevor

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 39 Project was born. The goal of The Trevor Mercer, author Ann-Marie MacDonald, Did you know . . . Project is to eliminate suicide among and Olympic gold-medalist Mark The “inadvertent bully” is accustomed LGBT youth. Before Savage brought “it Tewksbury joined over 20 others to to sharing their gets better” to the headlines, The Trevor speak out against bullying and to lend opinion without being Project was delivering a similar message. support to LGBT youth struggling challenged. As a result to survive high school. The video is they may not know Canada and It Gets Better profound and disturbing but ultimately that their comments Many Canadians have joined the It Gets hopeful. If nothing else, the entire It are hurtful to others. Better movement. The most notable Gets Better campaign has people talking contribution came from a group of about the harm that bullying does and the prominent Canadians who posted a video need to eradicate the practice instead of on YouTube. People like comedian Rick tolerating it as an archaic rite of passage.

To Consider 1. When Grade 12 students David Shepherd and Travis Price learned that a grade 9 student had been bullied for wearing a pink polo shirt, they took matters into their own hands. They didn’t threaten the bullies; instead they took away their power. They did this by convincing classmates at their school to dress in pink the next day to show their support for the bullied student. The response was overwhelming—a sea of pink and the bullying stopped. Do you think this kind of campaign could work at your school? Why or why not?

2. Around 90 per cent of LGBT high school students who are bullied are bullied at school. Does this surprise you?

3. Go to www.itgetsbetter.org and watch some of the videos. Write a 75–100 word summary of one of the videos, focusing on the central message of the video as well as the ability of the video to convincingly communicate a central idea.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 40 A NEW CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT BULLYING Activity: A Personal Story

Bullying is an all-too-common human experience. About 30 per cent of people report being bullied and about the same report having taken part in bullying. With over half the population experiencing bullying on one level or another, it is important to examine the personal stories that emanate from such experiences. Remember, it was the tragic story of Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old high school student who killed himself after enduring relentless bullying because people suspected he was gay, that prompted Dan Savage to launch the It Gets Better project.

Your Task Tell your own story of being bullied or having taken part in the bullying of another person. Be as speciﬁc as possible about the details of the story. Focus on things like how you felt while the bullying was happening, any fears or anxieties that accompanied the bullying, or corresponding feelings of power or powerlessness that emerged from the bullying incidents.

Tell a story of bullying that you discover from your own research. You can either ﬁnd a bullying story on the Internet or you can ask a friend, a family member, or a teacher if they have any stories of bullying. Once again, focus on the feelings associated with bullying. Try to determine the impact that the bullying has on the victim and the bully.

Length of the story: 300-500 words

Follow-up Share your story with a close friend or family member. Make sure it is someone you feel you can trust. Have a discussion about the prevalence of bullying in our society and brainstorm potential strategies to ward off bullying. Write a brief summary of your discussion.

Note: If you are artistic, or a good ﬁlmmaker, you might choose to express yourself in one of these mediums rather than in written form. Discuss this option with your teacher if you are interested in producing a work of art to express your experience.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 41 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Introduction

For many people, there is probably no effort became a media sensation, and Focus greater fear than being buried alive. reporters from around the world raced For more than two months, 33 men were On August 7, 2010, that fear came true to the area. This placed even greater trapped three-quarters for 33 men working at the San José mine pressure on those responsible for saving of a kilometre north of Santiago, Chile. A portion of them. The Chilean government assumed underground in a the mine collapsed, trapping them deep responsibility for the rescue and brought Chilean gold and underground. in experts from several countries to assist copper mine. This For more than two weeks no one could with the rescue effort and to ensure the News in Review story confirm if they were dead or alive. Crews miners’ continued health and safety. looks at how the miners coped and were unable to enter the mine to search On October 12—over two months after at the difficult but for them. Rescuers knew that the men the collapse—the miners emerged, one ultimately successful were near a refuge chamber that might by one, from their underground prison. attempt to free them. have protected them, but several attempts Over 2 000 reporters were on hand, and to drill small shafts to lower listening the rescue was televised in real time equipment were unsuccessful. around the world. All the men appeared Check It Out! Then, 17 days after the collapse, as to be in good physical condition. Extensive print and an eighth attempt was made, observers The whole story of their experience— video information about the miners’ heard sounds of hammering deep in the especially the first 17 days before contact ordeal and rescue is Earth. The drill broke into the refuge was made—may never be known. The available from the CBC chamber; when it was pulled up it miners have apparently agreed to keep at www.cbc.ca/world/ had handwritten notes attached to it, that information to themselves. They story/2010/10/12/chile- indicating that all 33 miners had survived have also agreed that the proceeds from mine-rescue.html. and were doing well. any media interviews or docudramas The men were alive, but rescuing based on their experiences will be shared them would not be an easy task. A new equally among all the men. shaft would have to be drilled, just For the rescue team, one major wide enough to lower a capsule to the question remains: How will the miners men and then bring them to the surface. cope psychologically, both with their Meanwhile, the men would have to be experience underground and their new- kept physically and mentally healthy found fame? The psychologists on the until rescuers could finally pull them out. team anticipate monitoring the men for The trapped miners and the rescue many years to come.

To Consider It was a record no one wanted to set: the longest period a group of miners were trapped underground before their successful rescue. Observers agree that the Chilean miners showed incredible strength of will in surviving for over two months.

1. What personal characteristics would help an individual survive such an ordeal?

2. What advantages would being part of a group offer to those in such a situation?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 42 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Video Review

Did you know . . . Pre-viewing Activity “Camp Hope” was What do you think of when you hear the word miner? Make a list of the the name given to qualities you consider essential for anyone who would choose mining as a the area at the mouth profession. As you watch the video presentation, check to see how many of the of the San José mine qualities on your list are demonstrated by the Chilean miners shown in the news that was created by story. friends, relatives, and members of the media Viewing Questions who awaited news of As you watch the video respond to the questions in the spaces provided. the miners. 1. After the mine collapse, how long did it take before the miners were located?

2. How many men were trapped by the collapse?

3. How long did rescuers initially believe it might take before the miners would be rescued?

4. How far underground were the miners trapped?

5. What rations did the miners survive on for the ﬁrst two weeks?

6. What did astronaut Robert Thirsk suggest the miners might use to occupy their time?

7. As the miners were pulled from the mine, what surprised the Chilean health minister?

8. What did the president of Bolivia promise to the one trapped Bolivian miner?

9. How long were miners kept in hospital after the rescue?

10. Why did some of the miners return to Camp Hope for a thanksgiving service?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 43 11. Describe the pact that the miners are rumoured to have made among themselves during the time they were trapped.

Post-viewing Discussion The plight and rescue of the Chilean miners was clearly a major media event in 2010, with millions around the world watching the rescue in real time on television. 1. What role, if any, do you think the media attention played in guaranteeing the successful rescue of the trapped miners? Explain.

2. Television coverage of the rescue was controlled by the Chilean government, but was permitted to take place in real time, despite the possibility that something might go wrong. Why might the government have allowed this? Would you describe that decision as a responsible one? Why or why not?

3. The San José accident has caused the Chilean government to increase its supervision of mining in the country. Do you think that media coverage of the Chilean mine disaster will have any impact on mining practices in other parts of the world? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 44 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Miners Get Trapped Focus for Reading On August 5, 2010, 33 miners in Chile were trapped when a portion of the mine they were working in collapsed. While a full report on the accident is yet to be completed, the mine has suffered a series of similar incidents in recent years. As you read through this description of what happened from August 5 up to the day when the miners were discovered alive, make a list of points that would be important to those who are investigating the cause of the disaster.

In the days preceding the collapse, some unable to do so. A second collapse of the miners at the San José copper hindered their efforts even further. and gold mine near Copiapó, Chile, had With the main shaft unavailable, expressed their apprehension that all was efforts turned to the emergency exits that not right. The mine was moaning; things are intended to be available for trapped seemed to be trying to shift underground. miners. These are the chimneys, or They had cause for concern. Chile ventilation shafts, that are equipped with is a notorious location for earthquake stairways or ladders that can be used if activity. On August 5, what geologists regular exits are blocked. Unfortunately, call a “seismic event” shifted a huge the mining company had failed to install column of rock in the mine. The these stairways, and the collapse had column—150 metres tall by 70 metres partially blocked the shafts. wide and weighing 700 000 tonnes— After the failure of the Atacama collapsed. squad, the Chilean government assumed Miners ran for the exits, and several leadership of the search for survivors. of them made it out alive. But it was It brought in experts from Codelco, the quickly realized that 33 of the miners government-owned mining corporation, working at the time were missing. They so that another attempt could be made had been at the end of an to reach the miners through the main 8-kilometre-long tunnel about 700 opening. Codelco spent a week trying metres underground. to do this, but then abandoned their efforts after continued seismic activity Initial Rescue Attempts convinced them this was impossible. Raúl Villegas, the last miner to leave the mine, reported the accident to his The Probe managers. He and a crew entered the During all of this work, there was no mine in an attempt to ﬁnd and free the evidence that any of the trapped miners missing miners but soon realized the were still alive. It was hoped that after collapse had made it too dangerous. the collapse the miners had been able The mine management took several to reach the 47-square-metre refuge hours to report the incident to regional chamber 700 metres underground, authorities. But once they did so the where some supplies and oxygen were Atacama regional authority sent its six- available. It was decided to drill a member special operations emergency 15-centimetre hole—about the width squad to attempt a rescue. The squad of a grapefruit—and send listening made two separate attempts to reach equipment down to the chamber to see if the men via the main entrance but were there were signs of life.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 45 The maps of the mine provided by the deaths in 12 years. It was briefly Did you know . . . company were not very accurate, and it shut down in 2007 and charged with It took 17 days just to locate the miners— took eight attempts before the emergency involuntary manslaughter in the death already past the usual refuge was reached. As the probe of one miner. (The case was eventually two-week limit for approached the shaft, rescuers could hear settled out of court.) successful rescues. hammering, which raised their hopes that Mining experts have noted that the Before the San José at least some of the miners were alive. San José mine uses a type of grid mining rescue, the record On August 22—17 days after the that makes companies a lot of profit but for the longest time collapse—the probe reached the refuge. is also the most dangerous for miners underground before rescue was 25 days. When the drill was pulled to the surface, working underground. two notes were attached to it. One was There were only 18 mine inspectors for for a miner’s wife. The other stated what is one of Chile’s major industries simply: “Estamos bien en el refugio los at the time of the San José collapse. As 33” (“We 33 are all fine in the refuge”). a result, the Chilean government has set Now all the rescuers had to do was up a special commission to investigate find a way to keep the miners alive and the collapse and the work of its mining then get them out. regulatory agency. Thirty smaller mines were shut down for safety violations The Role of the Mining Company immediately following this incident. and Its Supervisors Compañía Minera San Esteban is As the attempts to locate the missing financially unstable. It could not afford miners increased in intensity, the rescue operation (costs were assumed investigations into the company that by the Chilean government) or to even owned the mine turned up some pay the miners’ salaries while they unsettling information. Compañía were trapped underground. Industry Minera San Esteban was cited 42 times insiders expect the company will file for for safety violations between 2004 and bankruptcy. 2010. The mine had eight accidental

For Discussion Because the conditions are dangerous, salaries at the San José mine are about 20 per cent higher than those at safer mines. Is this fair compensation for the miners who face the possibility of injury or death in risky conditions? Do miners who accept this kind of compensation bear any part of the responsibility if an incident such as this happens?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 46 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Rescuing the Miners To Consider The operation to rescue the Chilean miners was unlike any rescue operation ever attempted before. The effort was originally estimated to take about four months, and the miners would be under considerable stress until it was over. But every step taken in the rescue operation had to be designed to ensure the miners’ safety. While you are reading this section, create a list of the major decisions that you believe helped ensure the miners would come out alive.

The rescue operation began when drills expected to drop 3 000 to 4 000 tonnes were used to bore three small holes of rock to the bottom of the shaft—rock to deliver food and medicine to the that the trapped miners would have to miners. The small shafts were also used remove. This was the first rig to go into for communication so that the ongoing operation. health of the miners could be monitored. Plan B used a second drill rig, which It also made communication between the was the one that ultimately drilled the miners and their families possible. escape shaft for the miners. This unit Meanwhile a decision had to be made: worked in three stages: it drilled a 14- what would be the best method to get the centimetre pilot hole; enlarged this to 30 miners out? Using any of the existing centimetres; and then increased the width tunnels was out of the question. The again to 71 centimetres. Once again, only possible solution was to dig a new tonnes of falling rock had to be removed tunnel, an operation that would be slow by the miners—about 500 tonnes of fine and create its own problems. debris fell down the pilot hole every hour the drill was operational. Creating a New Tunnel Plan C was a largely Canadian The plan that experts came up with was operation that involved the only rig to create a tunnel just wide enough to that could drill a large enough hole accommodate a capsule that would lift for evacuation in one step, without a the miners, one by one, to the surface. pilot hole. This type of rig is normally The tunnel would be only about 70 used for oil and gas drilling and brings centimetres wide. Each trip from the its debris up to the surface rather than bottom of the mine to the top would dropping it to the bottom of the shaft. likely take about 30 minutes. The rig began working on September Ultimately, three different drilling 19. Although capable of drilling much rigs were brought in to attempt to create faster than mining drills, it is more a new tunnel. The machinery worked difficult to aim and requires removal and simultaneously, but the first to reach the repositioning if it slips off course. miners would likely be the one used to On October 9, Plan B—and its bring them to the surface. The operations widened shaft—reached the miners. were dubbed Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Plan A was still drilling its pilot hole; Plan A was to bore a pilot hole down Plan C was about 60 per cent complete. to the miners and then widen the hole Choosing to go with multiple efforts had so that the escape capsule could be proved to be the right decision. accommodated. This operation was

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 47 Fénix 2 the first miner, Florencio Ávalos. To carry the men to the surface, the Like all the other trapped miners, Chilean navy, with the help of NASA, Ávalos had prepared for the trip to the designed a stainless steel capsule it surface. For six hours before his rescue called Fénix 2, or Phoenix. It was 54 he had been on a liquid diet designed by centimetres in diameter and equipped NASA. He wore a girdle to help control with wheels to provide a smooth his blood pressure and took an aspirin to ride. It had its own oxygen supply, prevent blood clots. He also wore a pair communications equipment, lighting, of wrap-around sunglasses to protect his and an escape hatch and lowering eyes from sunlight—the first he would mechanism that could be used by a miner experience in weeks. if the capsule were to get stuck. Because The miners had been divided into three of the small size, all miners had to have groups: the skilled (those best able to a waistline of 90 centimetres or less in deal with any malfunctions during the order to escape. rescue); the weak (older workers and those with medical or psychological The Rescue problems); and the strong (those It took until October 12 to make the final mentally and emotionally best able to preparations for the rescue. Because the survive the long wait for their turn in rock around the top of the new tunnel the rescue). It was in this order that they was relatively weak, a steel liner needed were brought to the surface. to be installed for about 56 metres of the One by one they rode the Fénix, while shaft. A platform and winching system five more rescue workers descended to for raising the capsule also required help prepare them for their escape. The construction. A trial run of the empty full operation, including returning the capsule took place on October 11, rescuers to the surface, took less than 26 descending to within 15 metres of the hours. end of the shaft. The final miner to ascend was Luis An elaborate plan had been worked out Urzúa, the foreman at the time of the for the actual rescue, and it was flawlessly collapse and the man who acted as leader put into operation. First, a rescue worker throughout their ordeal. descended in the capsule and strapped in

Post-reading Activity 1. Prioritize your list of decisions: which ones do you feel were most important in effecting a successful rescue? Share your list of decisions with one of your classmates. Do your lists and priorities agree?

2. Do you agree with the order in which the miners were rescued? Would you have prioritized the order differently? Explain.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 48 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Surviving Underground

Did you know . . . Focus for Reading After being located The survival of all 33 trapped Chilean miners is a truly inspiring story that reflects by rescuers, the first well on both the men and their rescuers. In this section we look at some of the “real” meal delivered efforts made by both groups to ensure this success. As you read this section, to the trapped men note that both the rescuers and the rescued had significant responsibilities in was cereal with pear- ensuring the miners’ survival. applesauce. The miners were trapped by the collapse was a great comfort to many of the men. at one of the lowest points in the mine, Yonny Barrios, who once took a nursing near a refuge chamber specially built course, stepped in to help monitor the in case of such events. The chamber is health of the other men. All of the men about 47 square metres and contains continued with their roles throughout the chairs, benches, and blankets. There are period they were trapped underground. no beds, but there is a portable toilet. Surrounding the chamber are about two Outside Help kilometres of tunnels that remained Once the miners had been located, the usable. The tunnels were about three rescuers were fully involved in keeping metres wide by three metres high. The the miners as physically and mentally temperature at that level is a constant, healthy as possible. The first order of humid 30 degrees. There is no lighting business: getting fresh supplies to them. other than what mining machinery and All the supplies had to make their their lamps could provide. way down a hole about 15 centimetres in diameter. Supplies were delivered Leadership in plastic packages called palomas, or Despite some initial panic and doves. Each packet took about an hour to discouragement, the miners came together make its way down the shaft. in hopes that those outside the mine were The first items sent down consisted of actively seeking their rescue. Foreman glucose, hydration gels, liquid nutrients, Luis Urzúa continued to be recognized as and medicines. The imposed regimen the group’s leader, and he and the other was straightforward: to begin, water miners organized routines and procedures every 15 minutes, followed by glucose to keep the group functional as long as after six hours, and Gatorade after 12. possible. What little food was available Nutritional gels were added after 18 in the refuge was carefully rationed and hours, and the men got “real” food by the shared by all the men: two spoonfuls of fourth day. tuna, a biscuit and a bit of milk every 48 The rescuers knew that starvation was hours. They used a backhoe to dig for an issue because of urine tests conducted trapped water in the tunnels. on the men. Barrios reported that about It certainly helped that the men had half of the men were showing signs of worked together and knew each other dehydration and muscle breakdown. well. It also helped that some of them Once they had recovered and were eating besides Urzúa fell easily into leadership normal food, the miners were kept on a roles. Mario Gomez, the oldest miner, diet of 2 300 calories per day and ordered established an underground chapel that to exercise at least one hour per day.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 49 Barrios became a real assistant to the Rescuers also provided the miners Definition medical personnel above ground. He with small fluorescent lights. The men Refeeding syndrome develops when took blood pressure readings and urine used these to set up a pattern of light and someone who has and blood samples. He also gave the dark periods underground that matched been starving eats too miners a series of inoculations against the cycle taking place above ground. much solid food too tetanus, pneumonia, meningitis, and Chilean officials leaned heavily on fast. This complication influenza. the advice of two groups of experts to can cause heart help the miners get through their time failure, seizures, coma, until their rescue. One of these was delirium, or sudden Keeping Spirits Up death. The rescuers drilled a total of three NASA, which had decades of experience small access shafts in order to be able to helping astronauts deal with the stress guarantee communication and ventilation of living in very tight spaces. The other as well as supplies to the miners. was the Chilean navy’s submarine “Eventually, all sorts of comfort goods force, also experts in living in isolated were going down the three narrow tubes: environments. dismantled camp beds, clean clothes, The advice was carefully followed. letters, movies, dominoes, tiny Bibles, Areas were set up near the refuge toothbrushes, skin creams. The smokers chamber for specific activities, such were first allowed only gum and nicotine as sleeping and entertainment. Daily patches, but doctors eventually relented routines were established. The miners and let 40 cigarettes a day go down” were encouraged to perform creative (Toronto Star, October 15, 2010). activities, such as making videos of their Fibre-optic cables were a real blessing experience for their families. And the for the miners, allowing them to have miners had their own work to keep them regular communication with family focused—preparing for their eventual members who were at the mine to rescue. support the men. Daily contact with parents, wives, and children, though brief, helped keep spirits up.

For Discussion Rescuers felt it was important that the miners establish a daily routine and stick with it. Based on your own experience, how important is having a routine in coping with a stressful situation? What tasks do you ﬁnd most helpful?

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 50 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Psychological Impact

Quote Pre-reading Reflection “The Chileans are It’s almost impossible to imagine what it would be like to spend more than two basically writing the months underground, cut off from the rest of the world, with no guarantee that book on how to rescue you would be rescued. And then all of a sudden your prayers were answered this many people, this and you were rescued. What might the miners have been thinking in the first deep, after this long days after their rescue? What problems might they face, both as individuals and underground.” — as a group? Michael Duncan, NASA expert (The Globe and Psychologists do not agree on the impact groups, as we are all well aware, can lead Mail, September 6, of the long entrapment on the miners. to the development of cliques fighting 2010) Some caution that post-traumatic stress for control or refusing to co-operate. If is almost guaranteed. Others argue that there was friction over survival tactics Did you know . . . most of the men, if not all, have the in the early days, it would not have been Long periods of capacity to shrug off the worst effects of surprising to see a small group break off darkness throw off the the ordeal. from the main one. body’s natural rhythm After the trapped miners were located, and can cause all In the Mine a veritable army of psychologists was kinds of psychological problems like seasonal The experience of the Chilean miners is brought in to determine their mental state affective disorder, absolutely unprecedented. No group of and keep them as positive as possible. anxiety, depression, miners has ever survived underground At first some of the men were showing and exhaustion. for this long. Individuals placed in signs of depression, refusing to appear long-term isolation—astronauts at the on camera at the first video contact. But International Space Station, or scientists Claudio Ibanez, one of the leaders of in Antarctica, for example—receive the psychological team, was impressed hundreds of hours of training to prepare with their overall mental condition. for their experience. And, more to “Most people have deep resilience the point, those individuals make and the ability to persevere in extreme a conscious choice to undergo that situations,” he notes. “Those miners experience. The miners certainly did not. reached for the best in themselves. We may never know the details of Maybe if it were one man trapped down what happened in the mine in the 17 there, he would have died. But as a team, days before the probe located the men. they survived” (Maclean’s, October 11, Rumours did circulate that there was 2010). some friction among the men during that The most important task for period, and that five of the 33 may have psychologists, however, was to ensure separated themselves from the rest of that the miners kept a positive frame of the group. But the group seems to have mind. Letters from family members were agreed not to speak about that period censored to guarantee they contained with outsiders. only good news. And a fierce argument Psychologists note that the fact that raged over whether the miners should the group was so large could have both be told that they would have to remain positive and negative effects. The size underground for a long time, possibly of the group would guarantee that many until Christmas. of its members would have skills that In the end, the realists won out. would help them all survive. But large The full rescue plan—including the

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 51 anticipated length of time—was told will be important to monitor the miners’ to the miners on August 27 (10 days mental health long after they are out of after first contact), and letters from the spotlight. Sheryl Bishop, a social family were passed along to the miners psychologist at the University of Texas, uncensored. says: “The shock of how quickly they In fact, contact with the outside and become yesterday’s news will be at with the miners’ families became a odds with something that represents a central part of the miners’ day. Daily significant event in their lives.” Bishop conversations helped the miners maintain goes on to say that unless support from their role in their families, permitting the Chilean government continues for them to give advice on the day-to-day some time, there is a real possibility that aspects of family life. the miners may feel resentful, isolated, Psychologists were also keen to see and abandoned. the miners given meaningful work to On the bright side, however, the do, to have them participate in their own miners will also likely find that their rescue. Helping set the order of rescue, lives have now changed for the better. keeping fit while maintaining a low They have agreed to share any monetary weight, clearing debris that fell from the proceeds from telling their story, and new shaft into the mine—all of these there is considerable interest from the were valuable activities to keep the men media. Most of the men will likely have focused on a favourable outcome. a renewed appreciation for life and their families and friends. After the Rescue One of the miners, Edison Peña, Once freed, the miners continued to face celebrated his return to freedom—and possible psychological problems. Post- demonstrated his mental toughness—in traumatic stress disorder can take many an especially remarkable fashion. Peña forms but can involve panic attacks, kept in shape underground by daily flashbacks, and sleeping difficulties. running in the tunnels. He was invited to Some of the miners might also be New York by the organizers of the New reluctant to talk about their experience York City Marathon to observe the 2010 underground. And many will not be able competition. Peña accepted the offer, but to go underground ever again. chose to compete rather than observe. He According to a number of completed the course in 5:40—beating psychologists interviewed by the journal his goal of six hours. New Scientist (October 14, 2010), it

Activity Imagine that you and your classmates were trapped in your classroom for an extended period of time. What would help you and your group maintain a positive attitude until you could be rescued? Make a list of 10 things— behaviours, objects, activities—that would help keep you and the group upbeat until you were released. What might you personally do to assist the rest of the class to keep the group happy and focused?

Compare your list with those of some of your classmates.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 52 THE RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS Activity: Lessons Learned

Much of Canada’s mining now takes place in open pit mines, but there are still a number of underground mines in operation. Despite past incidents, some of which have been major disasters, the industry now has one of the best safety records in the world.

Nonetheless, there are always lessons that can be learned from the experience of others. Your task in this activity is to identify some of the lessons learned from the Chilean mine collapse and rescue, and to communicate those lessons to others.

Working in small groups, make a list of the most important lessons you think can be learned from this story. You may choose to concentrate on one aspect, such as mine and worker safety, rescue methods, or physical or psychological support for workers awaiting rescue.

Prepare a visual presentation of your ideas of the lessons that the San José experience can teach us about mining. This might be in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, short ﬁlm, poster, brochure—in short, an effective tool to grab your audience’s attention.

Use the space below to list the main points your group would like to cover in their presentation.

CBC News in Review • December 2010 • Page 53 News in Review Index A list of the stories covered last season and to date in the current season is provided below.

The complete chronological index for all 20 seasons of News in Review and a subject- oriented index listing News in Review stories appropriate for various subject areas can be accessed through our Web site at http://newsinreview.cbclearning.ca. Hard copies of these indexes can also be obtained by contacting CBC Learning. SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2010 Two Canadians Meet in Space The Controversy Over the Census Canada and the Swine Flu The G20 Summit: Talks and Teargas Iran’s Summer of Discontent The Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico Asbestos: Canada’s Ugly Secret Residential Schools: Truth and Healing OCTOBER 2009 OCTOBER 2010 Canada and the Stranded Canadians The Tamil Boat People Controversy Afghanistan’s Troubled Election Pakistan’s Catastrophic Floods Remembering Canada’s War Dead The Fate of the Long-Gun Registry Autism: Living with Difference Journey Back to Nagasaki NOVEMBER 2009 NOVEMBER 2010 Parliament and the Election Question Hurricane Igor Hits Newfoundland Keeping Up with the Swine Flu Canada’s New Governor General Adoption: Looking for a Baby Abroad Afghanistan: A Frontline Report Trying to Save the World’s Amphibians BPA: The Chemical Inside Us DECEMBER 2009 The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit Is the Recession Really Over? The Internet: Forty Years Later The Great U.S. Health-Care Debate FEBRUARY 2010 Richard Colvin and the Afghan Detainees The Road to the Winter Olympics The Plane Bomber and Airport Security Canada’s Amazing Neptune Project MARCH 2010 A Deadly Earthquake Devastates Haiti Young Adults and Heart Disease The Trials of the Toronto 18 Diving for Clues to Canadian History APRIL 2010 Earthquakes: The Horror and the Science Toyota Recalls Millions of Vehicles Taking the Violence Out of Hockey The Hidden Dangers of Nanoparticles

MAY 2010 CBC Learning Parliament and the Detainee Issue P.O. Box 500, Station A How Canadians Are Helping Haiti Toronto, Ontario, Canada How Tolerant Are Canadians? M5W 1E6 K’naan: A Canadian Sings for the World Tel: (416) 205-6384 Fax: (416) 205-2376 E-mail: [email protected]

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