In 2007, nineteen environmentalist rode 1300 km to reach Alberta’s imfamous tar sands, stopping along the way to ask communities how the tar sands have affected them.

To The Tar Sands is a documentary of their journey that was directed and produced by UBC School of Journalism student Jodie Martinson. It highlights some of the inherent contradictions in this massive mining project while remaining fair and balanced in its coverage.

I was at the UBC screening of To The Tar Sands on January 20 and recorded a podcast for the Thunderbird.

My aim was to give listeners a sense of the breadth of the film, and to show how one of the film’s main characters feels about the implications the tar sands have for all Canadians.

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