they found the most Canadian guys to interview in this video lol

I live in Alberta, I have watched the oil industry grow throughout my entire life. Yes, it is actually this bad.

@2:24 Americans call that tundra? Do they even know what tundra is? Silly southerners, that's what you call taiga! And no, Fort Mac isn't anywhere close to the Arctic!

Oil is evil... as he flies around in a plane and drives across alberta.

I love how they refer to fort mac as "in the middle of the tundra" which is sooooo untrue.. if there are trees, it's not tundra, it's boreal.

lol muricans coming to report about canada and how terrible our oil sands are... but fail to think, damn.... our country consumes a lot of that oil, and actually, the oil sands provide lots of jobs and are great for the economy, especially the albertan economy, also fort mcmurray a booming and prosperous town..... you didn't do a good job of depicting anything vice, sorry.

I'm against the oil sands, but some of these numbers are way off. The oil sands are definitely not responsible for 2/3 of Canada's carbon emissions.

And a Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals drew near to him and said, "We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it." The Man said, "I want to have good sight." The vulture replied, "You shall have mine." The Man said, "I want to be strong." The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like me." Then the Man said, "I long to know the secrets of the earth." The serpent replied, "I will show them to you." And so it went with all the animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left. Then the owl said to the other animals, "Now the Man knows much, he'll be able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid." The deer said, "The Man has all that he needs. Now his sadness will stop." But the owl replied, "No. I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'" (Apocalypto).

The thing I find ironic is that, if you gave environmentalists soil samples from the undeveloped oil sands and told them they came from a former industrial site they would be up in arms over how damaging industry was. At the same time, if you gave them soil samples from reclaimed lease sites they would (probably) think that the soil was pristine. The oil sands are the largest oil spill in history and you're upset that we're cleaning it up.

too bad he knows nothing about the process.

this past week fortmac had a huge forest fire 90,000 people homeless nd the oil sands shut down for 3 days and in that 3 days there was a huge shortage of oil and shit all over canada. you cant shut this down.

Hey, it's a giant sand-cleaning operation with a fantastic by-product,oil, which we could not survive without. Send these vice reporters to Ukraine and get us some real news.

I live in fortmac & I love it.

being that i have lived in alberta for a while, this is one of very few of vice's videos that i can have a valid personal opinion on its validity. Alberta is not a "world of poisoned water, polluted air and rare cancer" that is an extreme exaggeration and makes me wonder how much more of vice's videos have been grossly biased to increase its views. i am dissapointed.

How can people that have never lived in Alberta in there entire lives, try and say it is absolutely horrible? As someone who has lived here my entire life, I can say it is one of the best places in the world to live.

I have learned a great deal from this, THANK you! I think your documentary is fantastic; brave and above all HONEST

What you are depicting as CO2 emissions in allot of these videos are just steam clouds. Alberta is cold, dry and regularly stays below -20 Celsius. So basically what you are seeing is the water being boiled off and instantly freeing, then slowly falling. Not really that much CO2. Most of the CO2 comes from the transportation of the oil and workers. Due to the fact so many stubborn people think the pipelines are a terrible idea, we have to transport the oil by truck and train to processing plants, hundreds or thousands of Km away. Thereby increasing the risk, cost, and environmental impact.

@ 10 seconds. Thats STEAM, ya meatheads !

I don't understand how they find their hosts, "let's find someone with a monotone boring fucking voice who sounds like he just got out of bed" great material for a documentary.

weve hit peak oil? LOL!!!! people said that in 1971

man, living in Canada, you see so much beautiful wonders, seeing this breaks my heart. :'(

About 0.15 per cent of global GHG emissions comes from oil sands development. Since 1990, oil sands producers reduced per barrel emissions by an average of 26 per cent - some achieved reductions as high as 50 per cent. Oil sands projects recycle 80-95 per cent of water used and use saline water where possible. Alberta became the first jurisdiction in North America to legislate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions for large industrial facilities by passing the Specified Gas Emitters Regulationexternal (SGER)

I live in Alberta, and I wish everyone was as fun here as the guys you met.

I live there and work there, It's supporting a far larger number of people then the number of people in that town. There are millions of people supported by those operations. That is besides the fact it is about crude production, the oil is sent elsewhere and is used for manufacturing jobs.

Wow. This is terribly sensationalized. I live in Alberta and they are painting a horrible picture. Our air is fine, our water is fine, and 90% of our land is still in pristine condition.This is a small portion of our total land mass. I always enjoy your documentaries but now that you have taken it close to home I can see you guys sensationalize a lot of things.

this is so true! I live in Southern Alberta and its not full of refineries like that. Everywhere is polluted nowdays. I am from Southern Ontario and we used to be able to smell the pollution that carried over from Niagara Falls NY over to us from the winds. The smell was gross. And look at Hamilton, the pollution settling into Lake Ontario. Southern Ontario has the highest Cancer rate in all of Canada.

to slow down on this and cut the uses would be a ridiculous idea

"Then again, what do I know" aka most Vice reporters in a nutshell...

This comments section is certainly proof that all the federal and private oil industry advertising is working. Why do thinking when other people can do it for us?

I lived in Calgary, AB from 2004 until 2012 (age 16 to 24) so I watched many of my friends and acquaintances choose a career in oil. Nobody sees the oil sands as a bad thing there. Albertans are the most successful in Canada solely because of oil. There is no provincial tax there and they have the best free health insurance system in the country. Everyone makes bank, the average wage is higher and cost of living lower.

How did you get from New York to Ft. Mac? Walk?

I appreciate this video. Thanks for sharing.

Well yes albert oil production is not the best, we are striving to make it much less environmentally impacting. But most of north America relies on Alberta oil.

Just because new and innovative solutions are reducing pollution, doesn't change the fact this still causes way to much pollution to begin with. The energy we rely on oil for could be obtained in other ways not nearly as harmful to the environment. what ever though..... let's just keep pumping billions of dollars into an industry run by the worlds most corrupt people...

Thank you VICE for all the amazing work you have all been doing raising awareness across the world.

absolutely ... I came from Montreal to work in Oil sands as Mechanical Engineer (Student).... Fort mcmurray is absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking

$120k a year.....not bad...??

"I'm going to be dead, and I won't care." Wow, just wow.

for every tree in canada that is cut down commercially,like in this case,they replant a new one somewhere else

as soon as I'm 18 I'm out of this freezing hell lol

As an Albertan I can honestly say that I do not support the oil sands. It releases 3x the greenhouse gases to produce this oil as it does conventionally, not including the burning of oil itself. There are vasts amounts of water used in these operations and Alberta is home to the world's largest tailing's pond, at 18km long. The reclamation laws are a joke and the government doesn't tax the companies for shit because they want to invite more investors. Alberta is purely an extraction province, it is exported and processed elsewhere, taking a lot of the profits away from Alberta. This is pretty clear as the entire Alberta economy has taken a massive hit and is still suffering from the current oil price, but hey we can keep drilling and that'll solve everything right?

Vice I would be curious if you could look into the North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields, or the fact that the USA is so concentrated on keeping the upper hand in foreign policy as far as energy dominance goes, that they are willing to still use nearly COAL for nearly 50% of their electricity generation. These issues are swept under the rug by the media and allows the United States government to get away with murder! One of the most developed countries in the world using the dirtiest( the affects of coal burning are terrifying, air quality is the number 1 issue in my mind look at China!) form of fossil fuels to generate 50% of their electricity and this is somehow less of a concern than oil production in a country with a solid environmental, worker rights and political history (when compared with other major oil producing countries, ie Syria, where some may argue oil money goes into killing their own people). Look at the stats, total oil sands GHG emissions in 2011 were 55 megatonnes which is equivalent to 4.3% of the emissions from the U.S. coal-fired power-generation sector in 2011 in addition the CO2 emissions of the tar sands, when compared with U.S crude supply is only 9% more intensive. I dont agree with the tarsands, I think they should be stopped as we have renewable technologies that can replace such disastrous energy sources. However focusing in on this issue allows us to forget, or ignore much more pressing matters as far as environmental damage goes. It is disappointing and quite obvious, that the need for the USA to stay off of foreign oil so they can have the upper hand in enforcing their foreign policy is out weighing the truth behind our energy consumption. Once again the health of the state is being prioritized over the health of the people.

I have been to Canada and Alberta. Way cleaner than many US states and cities.

RIP Ralph Klein

The opening of the video is ludacris in my opinion. Obviously no Canadian oil company is gonna stop you from filing. Why don't you guys go film oil production in China under Petrochina. Or check out the Sudanese oil trade. Maybe read Ethical Oil by Ezra Levant. Way to pick on Canadian economy! We have some of the best working conditions in the world; I was a roughneck for two years b4 the crash. Also we treat women equal and there is no child labor.

$10,000 / month - fuck! I need to move there.

Where can I find a tree snipper thing ?

Besides this, Alberta is a pretty beautiful place.

you know what....despite the fact that this isn't entirely accurate, I gotta give em credit for looking at Canada, pretty ballsy move on their part, being that...well...Vice is American, and most Americans don't give a shit about Canada, so actually taking their time to come up here...kudos to you Vice.

two-thirds my ass! GHG in the entire oil sands are 8% of Canada's total!

The documentary grossly mis-states the contribution of oil sands to the Canadian and US economy. US consumers are significantly benefiting from the lower oil prices and this benefit flows directly to them.

Why can't they reuse the trailing's ponds water for more separation? Does the water have to be unused in order to separate the bitumen properly?

i've worked the oilsand since 1999.i've seen evidents of reclaimations.oilsands makes me good money.

I love all the people who comment on this video and have no idea what is actually going on in Alberta. I live in Alberta, and have done so all my life, same with my family since 1912. The oil sands provide so many jobs and boosts our economy so much, you have no idea. Are taxes are lowest in the country because of this. We have so many people coming to Alberta because of the jobs and opportunities we have. Dont talk about the oil sands in Alberta unless you have actually lived and worked here.

A top documentary ever!!

I went to university in Ontario which put me around $70k in debt. Upon graduation it took me roughly one year to get a job starting at $30k a year. I left that pathetic existence behind at 24 yrs old and came to Fort Mcmurray to go back to college. Two years later I had a technical diploma and a full time job. Four years after that I own 3 homes worth roughly $2million dollar for which I have renters paying into the equity and I've averaged $250k a year in wages.

I live in Edmonton it's awesome here!!!

keep on pumpin......I need gas to get to work!!!!

This makes me want to cry.

I live in Calgary, AB. and currently unemployed. Many people in my life want me to go work in the oil and gas field to make a bunch of money, and live w/o money issues. This may be a fact but... Nothing, makes what Alberta is doing ok, or any other country that extracts oil. No study (long or short term), no gov't regulations, no amount of money (and the power that comes along with it) will make it ok. The day I make a penny off of the land I love so much, will be the day I lose my soul.

As an Albertan, I despise the oil sands and I'm glad that these huge oil corporations are getting fucked over due to low oil prices. It's time for change, and hopefully we can find a way of being economically vibrant without having adverse effects on our environment

Part 4: Most importantly consider that the "green" energy options are still not at a point where they can be used efficiently and affordably. Even the founder of Greenpeace agree's that the Oilsands is making amazing and unmatched efforts to reduce their impact. VICE, next time you do a piece - try to use balance. Remember, Alberta is much bigger than the oilsands, remember that if you ever go to the many amazing locations throughout the province that showcase our amazing pristine outdoors.

Shane is Canadian. He is the whole reason why I subscribed to this channel.

I absolutely HAAAAAAATE people who say "We'll be dead by then so why should we care?" It's THE epitome of selfishness.

Alberta is the greatest place in the world to live. Keep talking shit keyboard environmentalists, us Albertans will keep getting wealthier and happier. You should see all the people who come immigrate here, and why wouldn't you? We have one of the strongest economies in North America, the recession barely hit us. Have fun eating your gluten-free 100% "organic" tofu, while I sit here in beautiful Alberta eating the worlds best beef (by the way Alberta is famous for our beef) and loving how many job opportunities I have.

Hemp for energy instead of oil

To this day, there are still a strong cohort of oil simps claiming that this is the "cleanest produced oil in the world." It is expensive to produce, the return for extracting it is often marginal and it really only makes a decent buck when oil and gas prices are high, like they were around the early 2010s. Global oil market got flooded around 2014/2015 and our reliance on one industry put us into an economic bind for years. Last year our oil went down to -$35 per barrel.

Now Alberta has lost its oil industry... And look how happy everyone isn't

as an Albertan this really pissed me off..."this is Alberta" that one line basically did it. For all you people who never would give it a second thought this is not what Alberta Canada is... For every thing that the oil sands do to destroy the earth they also give back... All those trees they cut down, they replant 3X as many in areas that have previously cleared and worked. As the man at 8:30 said the main concern of this industry is the environment. if it was not it would not be allowed to operate considering how big environmentalism is in Canada. The people they interviewed as well are for the most part dropouts or people who really have no idea what they are talking about and are only there to support their alchoholism. people please before you make a judgment learn the real facts.

Lol idk why I watch vice all info is so unreliable Alberta isn't a land filled with horrible air and water canada is one of the last places on earth with very pure water from the mountains. Vice once again horrible video lol

Haven't but will check it out, hope this doesn't push me over the edge... lolol

Same here. There is a lot of digging and surveying to be done yet. I live in New Brunswick and there hasn't been a long history of mines here, however, the forestry is dying down and we have just recently started to survey. Turns out there are huge deposited of a lot of things in this province, Indium and Magnesium especially. Being one of the smallest and oldest provinces, imagine what the others might have.

Aghhh this comments section is a particularly discouraging festering abscess of fiercely defended opinions, even for KZfaq. Yeah, we're all entitled to whatever we choose to say. But, can't we even agree that polluting is bad? Just in general? 2/3 of Alberta's greenhouse gas emissions? Jeez. I walked to buy my iced tea after watching this.

Alberta has some of the cleanest water in the world this is a joke xD!

The dude in the red truck with the red sweater is the perfect example of why Alberta won't kick this oil addiction. He's just some hillbilly but he's making $120k a year and by the time the oil runs (or the environment) out he will be dead and he won't care what happens. He is literally every guy in the industry.

We have tankers waiting to dock to offload oil but can't until the price per barrel increases.

super overblown compared to other parts of the world like I dunno the gulf....

Blah blah blah how cares about the environment I care more about having working cars and heat

Would have been funny if this journalist just wandered into an area with H2S present.

Why do we keep looking for more oil? We are killing ourselves using this outdated energy source.

I've work out of town in Alberta... It is a very DEPRESSING LIFE. 26 days straight and 4 days off. I hated living, no family, no "friends" just work work work. The majority of the guys don't say it- but they're miserable. That's why they do drugs and alcohol. I later went to college and moved to Toronto in business. Technology and clean energy is the future. Alberta and oil sands is not.

Whats happens when the oil runs out??

That’s my buddy from back home JC Good guy hard worker. I’m pretty sure that’s when he was doing fire breaks and bud worm control.

do you have a source?

you flew and drove to get there...from new york?

make a vid on the gutter in brooklyn

Keep something in mind too people. Alaska pumps a shit load of oil and the residents get royalty cheques for it. In Alberta the people who live here see absolutely 0% of the money. We all got a $400 cheque one time years ago but that was only once.

Comes from new york to do this documentary haha thats a long walk with out oil.

I have lost 6 people, including my father to cancer. I don't recall any of them being anywhere near the Tar Sands, or any oil spills of any kind. Please again, who are you, and what do you do?

5 years later - peak oil huh?

Yeah, because its too difficult to breath the air that is outside.

"tree snippers"? LOL

the beginning shot is unearthly it looks insane

The snow is really deep here as he walks through maybe 2 feet of snow. Lol, obviously hasn't spent much time here.

good shit!

"Someday"..lol...

finally someone said it thank you

It's not a question of whether or not the oil sands are good for Alberta's economy. It's a question about their impact on our country and our woo world. Thanks for the GHGs, Alberta.

"let the markets prevail" translation- not my problem I have met Ralph Klien a few times..quite a money grubber and booze hound. One good story about him was when he was walking down town Calgary and threw a handful of change at a homeless guy and told him to go get a job..while he was premiere, what class.

A month later, I still agree with myself.