by Elke Blodgett
March 10, 2010

I have been attending much of the Syncrude Duck Trial in St. Albert since it started on March 1, 2010, and I 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 court room 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. Too bad I do not have access to the court transcript to confirm the accuracy of my notes.

In any case, 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 Ęget killed by flying into our high-power transmission lines which cross their flight path…