"Syncrude Trial Goes Far Beyond Ducks"

"The prosecution films shown in the Syncrude duck-death case are disturbing. A duck struggles in the black quagmire of a Syncrude Canada Ltd. oil-sands tailings pond, after mistaking it for a lake in April 2008. About 1,600 ducks died in the oily goo.

The expected two-month trial before Alberta Provincial Court Judge Ken Tjosvold is shaping up to be an environmental show trial -- featuring a rare joint prosecution by federal and provincial lawyers.

Syncrude is being served up on the prosecution platter like duck a l'orange. The case had dredged up the dark side of the oil-sands business and provided environmentalists with a judicial field to put the boots to one of Canada's major growth industries."

Jim Middlemiss reports for the Financial Post March 18, 2010.