Environmental and Health Impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands Industry R

Steve Hrudey

The Council of the Society, the presidents of its three academies, the past-president of the Society (Professor Yvan Guindon), and the current President, Professor Rod Macdonald, have all strongly supported the commissioning of these new studies, which has renewed the Society’s commitment to direct participation in what is the single most important public-service function of national academies. [...] The staff of the Society, based in Ottawa, was actively involved in administrative support for the panel meetings and in the preparations for the final production and dissemination of the report, including the attractive cover design and the hosting of the report on the Society’s website. [...] Hrudey was elected a Fellow of the International Water Association in 2010, a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis in 2007, and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Canada in 2006. [...] He has served on the expert panel on the Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Canada for the Council of Canadian Academies and is currently member of the commission examining the sustainable development of the shale gas industry in Québec within the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement. [...] A number of environmental activists have highlighted concerns about the environmental and health impacts of oil sands development by advocating consumer boycotts1 and avoidance of oil sands products by foreign governments.2 The debate of the merits and risks of oil sands development among critics, the industry, and the Government of Alberta has become increasingly strident.