48. The Costs of Exploitation and Sustainability

The global economy is fueled by exploitative industries that drain their profits from the planet’s most vulnerable people and places. Esteemed authors and journalists take the stage to analyze the heavy human and environmental costs of abusive resource extraction, and illuminate a better path forward. Former roughneck Don Gillmor’s On Oil maps out how the oil industry has infiltrated governments, started wars, and hushed up climate concerns. Vince Beiser casts his eye on the Achilles’ heel of “green power” in Power Metal, an exploration of how the skyrocketing demand for minerals is driving environmental havoc and rising violence. And in Precarious, Marcello Di Cintio scrutinizes global systems of migrant labour—including Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program, referred to in a UN report as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Moderated by David Beers.

Presented in partnership with ShareWares.

This event is open to everyone, and has been curated with the Pro-D day for teachers in mind. Teachers may be interested in the following information. This event is also suitable for students in grades 10–12.

Themes: Pro-D, climate change, environment, resource extraction, immigration
Curriculum Connections: Explorations in Social Studies 11, Economic Theory 12, 20th Century World History 12, Social Justice 12

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Event Participants:

David Beers

DAVID BEERS is founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Tyee, an award winning magazine writer, and author of a highly praised memoir Blue Sky Dream. He has worked as a top editor at Mother Jones Magazine, The San Francisco Examiner and the Vancouver Sun.

Vince Beiser

VINCE BEISER is an award-winning journalist and author. His first book, The World in a Grain, was a finalist for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and a California Book Award. His work has appeared in Wired, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, among other publications. He lives with his family in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Marcello Di Cintio

MARCELLO DI CINTIO is the author of four books, including Walls: Travels Along the Barricades which won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and the W. O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize, and Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense—also a W. O. Mitchell Prize winner. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Walrus, Canadian Geographic and Afar.

Don Gillmor

DON GILLMOR is the author of To the River, which won the Governor General’s Award for nonfiction. He is also the author of three novels, a two-volume history of Canada, and nine books for children. His journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone, GQ, The Walrus, Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star. He has won twelve National Magazine Awards and numerous other honours.