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Written by Jane Gerster Copy Editor, Digital News
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Good morning. It may be easy to draw a line from Alberta down to the U.S. on a map, but exporting oil and natural gas is not quite so linear. More below on why an independent Alberta would still need its provincial neighbours. Plus, the case of a New York sex offender who was confronted two years prior to his arrest by so-called Canadian vigilantes. And, why budding astrologists may wish to be awake on Wednesday at 2:34 a.m. ET.
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FEATURED STORIES
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(Mantai Chow/CBC)
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An independent Alberta's U.S. oil exports would mostly be piped through other provinces
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To hear some separatists talk, it isn't as much about ditching Canada as it is about fortifying trade bonds with the United States. But it's not quite so straightforward.
What's happening: Alberta produces five million barrels of oil a day, more than two-thirds of which is piped to the United States — making it Canada's most valuable export product. But it's not quite as simple as ditching Canada and shipping barrels straight south. Most Alberta oil gets to the U.S. via B.C. and Manitoba — less than one-tenth makes a direct trip, which is still more than the zero per cent of natural gas exports that go direct.
Why it matters: Both situations would add a wrinkle to trade negotiations in the event of an independent Alberta. "It would not be uncomplicated," says Sonya Savage, former Alberta energy minister and former pipeline exec. As Lawrence Herman, a veteran international trade lawyer and senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, puts it: "Everything starts from scratch with a new independent country." And while there are certainly models for letting Alberta goods flow through other provinces, should the Leave side win the fall referendum and a subsequent secession vote, pipelines would be a Canadian leverage point. Though, Alberta is not without its own (plentiful) leverage.
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Canadian 'vigilantes' confronted New York sex offender 2 years before arrest
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Kyle Devlin Lawrence, 44, recently pleaded guilty to a sex crime involving a minor.
What's happening: Lawrence was arrested and charged in connection with the February disappearance of a 16-year-old girl in Ohio, U.S. court records show. Per those records, an FBI special agent notes that the man — who used to live in Buffalo, N.Y. — was reported to the FBI in May 2024 after being "confronted by a citizen vigilante group while in Canada." That group posted their interactions with him, over allegations he'd travelled to Canada for sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl, online.
Why it matters: Authorities in Canada and the U.S. have repeatedly warned the public against vigilantism in potential criminal cases. As recently as June — when they announced the arrest of an Alberta man charged in connection with more than 500,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse — the Mounties warned "such actions can place public safety at risk, interfere with ongoing processes, and may result in criminal charges." Indeed, a Windsor, Ont., man who ran Creeper Hunter TV was sentenced in 2023 for harassment by telecommunications, extortion and more.
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A SpaceX rocket will slam into the moon tomorrow, and astronomers will be watching closely
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In the early hours of tomorrow morning, telescopes around the world will try to capture something never seen from Earth: an old rocket slamming into the moon's daylight side.
What's happening: A group of astronomers who wrote a paper on the upcoming impact are encouraging large observatories and serious amateur astronomers to observe the event, which will occur at 2:34:32.9 a.m. ET (how's that for precise?). The best view will be for those in Central and Eastern Canada and the U.S., parts of the Caribbean and South America, as the impact sends what astronomers expect to be more than one million kilograms of debris upward, before most of it falls back to the lunar surface.
Why it matters: We're entering an era where more humans are planning to head back to the moon, and scientists want to understand any indirect hazards from these impacts that astronauts might encounter. That could include the potential consequences of the plume falling back to the lunar surface, perhaps on habitats or astronauts' spacesuits.
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