Dr. John O'Connor

Oil sands down-stream pollution is 50 times higher than normal

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Syncrude Mildred Lake plant
Near Ft. McMurray, Alberta

By Stephanie Dearing – December 8, 2009

Perhaps Dr. John O'Connor as well as the residents of Fort Chipewyan might feel somewhat vindicated after their years of attempting to draw attention to pollution they said came from oil sands developments in Alberta were dismissed.

They were ignored until Dr. O'Connor started taking his concerns to a bigger audience. After that, Dr. O'Connor faced a lot of vitriole, and had complaints lodged against him by his colleagues working at Health Canada. Thanks to Dr. O'Connor's efforts, the government of Alberta finally undertook a study of cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, finding that what Dr. O'Connor said was true - there was a higher incidence of cancer than expected.

Doctor Who Suggested Oilsands-Cancer Link Cleared Of Misconduct Charge

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Florence Loyie, Canwest News Service – November 07, 2009

EDMONTON -- An embattled family physician who raised concerns about a possible link between Alberta's oilsands and cancer rates in a remote aboriginal community received vindication this week when he was cleared of causing "undue alarm."

Dr. John O'Connor found himself in hot water after he claimed in 2003 and 2004 that residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alta., had unusually high rates of blood, colon, bile-duct and liver cancer.

Will Dr. John O’Connor Ever Be Cleared?

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Slave River Journal
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

The charge of “causing undue alarm” against a former Fort Chipewyan doctor for revealing concerns over higher than average cancer rates in the community has, after two years, still not been dismissed by the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons (ACPS). That is in spite of an Alberta government study confirming higher than normal cancer rates there.

A public tarring in Saudi Canada

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Alberta Tar Sands
Alberta Tar Sands
A hydraulic shovel digs into the Alberta oil sands
north of Fort McMurray. June 19, 2003.

Some MPs seem more interested in serving the oil industry than the local people who have been affected by pollution.

Andrew Nikiforuk, Toronto Star
June 28, 2009

 Earlier this month, Dr. John O'Connor, a dedicated family physician, and I got badly tarred by another one of Ottawa's disturbing political gangs.

The ambush happened June 11 before the House standing committee on environment and sustainable development, which is studying oil sands and water. We testified not as experts but as concerned citizens. We didn't ask to appear; the committee invited us.

Testimony of Dr. John O'Connor to Parliament

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Dr. John O'Connor
Dr. John O'Connor

Dr. John O'Connor is a physician-turned-whistleblower who was the first to raise concerns about high rates of cancer in a community downstream of the Alberta tar sands.

O'Connor was invited to testify to a standing committee about his experience.  The following is the transcript of his testimony.

Oilsands whistleblower MD cleared

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Government charge of "undue alarm" from cancer warning remains

National Review of Medicine — Graham Lanktree
January 15, 2008

Dr John O'Connor can now sleep easier than he has in over a year. "My wife has just poured me a glass of wine and I'm going to put my feet up, relax and watch something mindless... like House," he says.

In mid-December, Dr O'Connor finally got some good news. In a conference call with his lawyer and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), the CPSA announced he'd been cleared of three of the four professional misconduct charges Alberta Health and Wellness and Health Canada had brought against him after he warned of a link between dangerously high levels of carcinogens and rare forms of human cancers in a community down-river of Alberta's oilsands mining project.

Health Canada muzzles oilsands whistleblower

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AB physician sounded cancer alarm, slapped with College complaint

Cancer Rates

National Review of Medicine — Peter Woodford
March 30, 2007

Cancer Rates

Elevated cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan
support Dr O'Connor's claim
From Fort Chipewyan Health Data Analysis by Alberta
Health & Wellness and Alberta Cancer Board,
April 2006

A northern Alberta physician who publicly aired concerns over carcinogenic pollution from the massive oilsands development is being investigated by the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons. The complaint against him comes from none other than Health Canada, which claims the physician caused "undue alarm."

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