J-Fest offers public insights into fracking, missing women, and editorial cartooning

If you're interested in learning more about hydraulic fracturing—otherwise known as fracking—you may want to show up at the Holiday Inn at 1110 Howe Street this evening (May 9).

That's because filmmaker Damien Gillis will be one of the panellists at J-Fest, a public event beginning at 7 p.m. as part of the Canadian Association of Journalists annual conference.

Gillis, codirector of the yet-to-be-released documentary Fractured Land, is one of the most authoritative independent voices on the fracking phenomenon in B.C.—and the impact it's having on energy production and the environment.

(The Georgia Straight recently published a cover story on how horizontal drilling and fracking have resulted in a massive increase in natural-gas and oil production in the United States, which is forcing B.C. producers and the government to look for new markets in Asia.)

Gillis, who's also made a film about the proposed Enbridge pipeline, will be joined by Lindsay Kines, a Times-Colonist reporter who's done a tremendous amount of investigative work on Downtown Eastside missing women and Community Living B.C.

Also on the panel will be former Province editorial cartoonist Dan Murphy, who found himself in trouble with his employer after poking fun at Enbridge.

The entry fee is a mere $5 and it will be moderated by Mount Royal University journalism professor Sean Holman. He was the founding editor of Public Eye.