It's a bird, it's a plane

no…it’s James Cameron! The Canadian movie man who brought us Titanic & Avatar is in Ft.Mac today to see the Oil Sands for himself, after previously calling it a “black eye” on Canada’s image. He wants to see the impact the oil sands is (or isn’t) having on the environment, so he’ll be buzzing around in his chopper for the next few days, touring the mines and meeting with oil execs (who will show him this) and Aboriginal leaders from Fort Chipewyan (who will show him this).
It will be interesting to hear what his official stance on the matter is once this tour ends. Not because his personal views are all that important, but you have to admit he can be one persuasive dude. (Have you seen Avatar? Don’t tell me you didn’t have real feelings for that magical tree!) Because of his celebrity status and the amount of media coverage surrounding this trip, his final verdict could really sway public opinion one way or the other; so lets just hope he gets a fair and balanced look at both sides.


**update**
Well it seems Mr.Cameron got a good like at both sides, because there wasn't a lot of news about his reaction; he left with a new appreciation for the complexity of the oil sands yet still concerned about the environmental impact. He said "Everybody has got their perspective on it and I don't think anybody's doing anything irrational. It's just a question of how these perspectives need to be reconciled". He also mentioned doing a documentary about it someday. So all in all, it wasn't that big of deal after all - which is probably a good thing.