Oilsands data now public, but governments face questions about independence

OTTAWA – Ottawa and Alberta are now streaming sensitive environmental data from the oilsands region in an attempt to win the public’s trust for further resource development.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent and his provincial counterpart Diana McQueen have launched a data portal allowing public access to new research and raw data about the air, water and wildlife in the Athabasca area.

But the two governments are already facing questions about how forthcoming the data base will be about troubling aspects of oilsands developments.

It’s also an open question what governments might end up doing about environmental problems that could be exposed by the data.

Environmental scientist David Schindler, who raised alarms about the lack of scientific oversight of the oilsands, says the new data portal has good potential.

But he says the work needs independent oversight to ensure it doesn’t become a propaganda arm of the oilpatch.