Is taking out a full-page apology ad in some major daily newspapers adequate penance for a company responsible for the deaths of 500 ducks? Syncrude Canada hopes so, but Greenpeace says no way.

Last week it was revealed that Syncrude, a major oilsands player in Alberta, was responsible for a toxic pond that killed 500 ducks that landed in it. The company admitted they had not provided noisemakers that are supposed to be implemented to prevent this exact type of incident from occurring. Tom Katinas, Syncrude's head honcho, signed the apology that ran in newspapers this past weekend, but Greenpeace says that's not enough.

"The ties between government and industry run too deep. The premier holding Syncrude to account and not holding his own government to account is definitely a flaw in serving the public interest," said Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Canada.

Greenpeace wants to see an independent public inquiry conducted to prevent future incidents such as this from happening. The organization maintains that companies found in violation of environmental regulations and laws need to be held accountable for their actions, which would ideally include a stricter penalty than the $1 million fine currently issued to offending companies.

"For them, a million dollars is pocket change and is the cost of doing business," Hudema said.

Though Greenpeace can walk the fine line between simple activism and extremism, they certainly aren't wrong in their assessment that $1 million doesn't often mean a whole lot to an oil company, especially not to one of the biggest operations in the world. In all likelihood, Syncrude is smarting more from their tarnished reputation than any fine levied against them, which explains their attempt at a public apology. The question really isn't about whether the apology was sincere or not, but rather will oil companies take heed from the incident and clean up their act (literally)? And if not, what exactly will it take to do that?

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