Jane Fonda attended a panel discussion in Edmonton, Alberta today and used the occasion to criticize both the Alberta government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Photo Credit: CBC

Jane Fonda in Alberta reviewing oil sands

Jane Fonda, the actor and activist, is in the province of Alberta today and getting a mixed welcome. At a panel discussion in the capital city, Edmonton, Fonda expressed her disappointment in Trudeau.

In the company of three Indigenous chiefs, and Canadian activist and actor Barbara Williams, Fonda participated in the event which condemned the federal government’s approval of Enbridge’s Line 3 and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipelines.

“We shouldn’t be fooled by good-looking Liberals”

“When I heard that your prime minister, the shining hope at the … Paris climate talks, who talked so beautifully about needing to meet the requirements of the climate treaty, and respect and hold to the treaties with the Indigenous people, and so forth — such a heroic stance he took there,” Fonda said. “And yet he has betrayed every one of the things that he committed to in Paris.

Jane Fonda flew over Alberta’s oilsands region Tuesday, and later met with Indigenous groups and environmentalists. © Greenpeace

“I guess the lesson is we shouldn’t be fooled by good-looking liberals, no matter how well spoken they are. What a disappointment.” Fonda said.

“We’re not here to trash Alberta, to trash Fort McMurray or the men and women who work in the tar sands, that’s not our purpose,” Fonda said at the panel discussion. “We are at a moment in human history that is absolutely unique, this has never happened before.”

Fonda flew over Alberta’s oilsands region Tuesday, describing what she saw as painful.

“It’s like someone took my skin and peeled it off my body over a very large surface,” Fonda said to reporters following a lunch with members of the Fort McMurray First Nation. “It made my body ache to watch it.”

Following the lunch there were two confrontations in the parking lot outside the restaurant. At the beginning of a conversation with a CBC videojournalist, they were interrupted by Robbie Picard, founder of OilSands Strong, a local advocacy group.

Picard asked the 79-year-old Fonda if she was aware that First Nations businesses in the region have invested many millions of their own dollars in the oilsands.

As the entourage moved in around Fonda saying there was not enought time to address the questions, Fonda was confronted by Susan Plamondon, another local resident.

“Did you fly over the reclamation area?” Plamondon demanded of Fonda. They approached each other, and Fonda reached out and gently grasped the other woman’s hand.

“Listen, I’m not against you,” the actress said.

“Well, I sure hope that your report on Fort McMurray is a pleasant one, and not just bashing us. We are hurting here,” Plamondon said.

She reminded Fonda that 2,500 people lost their homes in May 2016, when a massive wildfire forced about 90,000 residents to leave the city and surrounding communities.

“Did you sleep in a hotel?” Plamondon asked.

“Yes, I did,” Fonda said. “And I flew in an airplane here. And I understand what you’re saying.”

This evening Greenpeace Canada is hosting an event at the University of Alberta in Edmonton with Fonda among  the several scheduled speakers.

We’ll have more on Fonda’s Alberta visit tomorrow.

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