Dr. Sean Kheraj

This public lecture will examine the social and environmental consequences of the history of the development, operation, and regulation of oil pipelines in Canada. While oil pipelines have transmitted energy across the country for more than half a century, they have done so within the context of competing political and social power among different groups. Large multinational oil corporations, federal and provincial governments, settler farmers, Indigenous people, and urban consumers have long struggled over access to oil and the environmental effects of its transportation. As Canadians debate new proposals for oil pipelines, this lecture offers historical context to better understand the place of pipelines today.