by Elke Blodgett
Edmonton Journal March 16, 2010

I have been attending much of the Syncrude duck trial in St. Albert since it started on March 1, and have been pondering the meaning of the defence lawyer’s opening comments, which included the statement that “the ducks took it upon themselves to land on the tar/settlement ponds.”

The acoustics in the courtroom are not designed so one can always hear what is being said, but I am fairly certain that is what I heard, and I wrote it down at the time. I was left with the impression that we are supposed to believe that it is all the fault of the ducks. They should have known better. When they see what looks like a pond from the air, they should realize that tar settlement ponds are not natural waterbodies and thus should stay away from them.

I have also mused upon the irony of holding a migratory bird kill trial in St. Albert of all places. I have lost count of the birds that “take it upon themselves” to get killed by flying into our high-power transmission lines which cross their flight paths.