Canada's big fat duck death toll coverup ... of a coverup

'WE' are such slime!!

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2009/03/31/8955051.html

We allow our governments to allow this coverup.

Syncrude Canada officials today revealed that the reported death toll of 500 ducks in its oilsands tailings pond in April 2008 was actually 1,606.

Oh ... and the death toll in people in the neighbourhood of the oil sands is ... you guessed it ... also covered up. (But they just talk about ducks.)

Fort Chipewyan:

Its isolation makes food expensive, and many in this community still rely on hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering throughout the year for their food.

But these days, many people in Fort Chipewyan say they can no longer trust the environment that has sustained them for so long. Their community is downstream from what is often referred to as largest industrial project on the planet – Alberta’s oilsands. And it shares shores with Saskatchewan’s Uranium City, which supplied the world with most of its enriched uranium for many years.

Over the past decade, residents of Fort Chipewyan say, they have watched too many people die from cancer and other illnesses. Many now suspect something in their water is slowly poisoning them. Hunters and trappers say they no longer dip their cups over their canoes to get a drink of water, and sales of expensive bottled water have increased.

Dr. John O'Connor

The analysis showed overall cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were no higher than the rest of the province. It also did not find the three to five cases in 100,000 of cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile-duct cancer reported by O’Connor, which normally strikes one to two people.

However, the analysis did show elevated cases of two diseases O’Connor was concerned about: Graves (a type of autoimmune disease that causes over-activity of the thyroid gland, causing hyperthyroidism) and kidney (renal) failure. It also showed specific cancers were elevated, including cancers of the blood known as hematopoietics, which oncologists say includes leukemia.

For reasons unknown, the Alberta Cancer Board decided to separate leukemia from hematopoietics for the analysis. Once the figures were combined, blood cancers were double the expected rate (five expected, 10 diagnosed). Nevertheless, Alberta Health determined this was not a statistically significant difference and said there was no cause for concern.

Why do I feel that the primary government function in Canada is coverup?