Contrary to what you might think - or read - David Suzuki has received a warm welcome here in Alberta. In the afternoon, he met with over a dozen union leaders from the Alberta Federation of Labour, some of whom represent workers in the tar sands.

"Global warming is the issue of our time," said Gil McGowan, President of the AFL.

"We are facing a pivotal moment in history and this is ground zero for the debate."

The labour leaders agree that the union movement has a key role to play in convincing the public and the provincial government that addressing climate change and reducing the emissions from the tar sands projects won't be the economic disaster that some claim. And that the explosive economic growth generated by the oil boom has had many down-sides, including stressed social services as well as environmental impacts.

Labour's leaders have plenty of ordinary Albertans supporting them if the event at the University of Alberta is anything to judge by. The Meyer Horowitz theatre was sold out and packed with over 700 folks from all walks of life. There were engineers, cattle farmers, students, an amateur astronomer and others, applauding David throughout his speech and giving him a boisterous standing ovation afterwards.

There are lots of Albertans like the Parkland Institute's Ricardo Acuna, who told the crowd that made-in-Alberta solutions can be found to turn things around. It's here that change is needed - in what Acuna referred to as "the belly of the beast" of global warming - and despite reports to the contrary, it appears to be happening.

--Don Hauka, Communications guru