| Archie McLean |
| For The Calgary Herald |
“There’s a bit of a propaganda war going on,” admits NDP Leader Brian Mason.
Mason uses tarsands exclusively. He and most environmentalists believe it more accurately describes what comes out of the ground. But most Albertans, including government leaders, oil execs and this newspaper, use the word oilsands, a reflection of the final product after refinement.
Geologically, they are the same thing, but everyone must choose one or the other.
“You actually can’t be neutral on this phenomenon,” explains Jennifer Dailey-O’Cain, a linguistics professor at the U of A. “Your choice of words gives away how you feel about the issue.”
Dailey-O’Cain likens the linguistic divide to the situation in Northern Ireland, where Catholics refer to the area as the north of Ireland and protestants call it Ulster.
Greenpeace is clearly situated on one side of the linguistic divide. They recently unfurled a massive banner from the High Level Bridge that read: STOP THE TARSANDS.
Mike Hudema, the local spokesman, says it’s a more accurate term.
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: one of the authors - Mark Jaccard, is a round table member.