IntroductionThe statement that "Canada's tar sands are far more of a blessing than a curse" is not true because the downsides of the tar sands outweigh the benefits. For this reason, this article aims to indicate the arguments against this statement. To understand the flaws of oil sands exploration in Canada, one must delve deeper into explaining what oil sands are as well as how the entire extraction and refining process and subsequently determine disadvantages based on socio-economic factors, environmental factors, as well as the infrastructure and energy required for their production. Tar sands are unconventional oil deposits consisting of loose sand and partially consolidated sandstone containing natural mixtures of natural clay, sand and water saturated with a highly viscous, extremely slow-flowing form of oil known under the name of bitumen (Yunchez, 2012). In summary, to exploit the tar sands, all wetlands must be drained and rivers diverted. Then all trees, vegetation and soil must be scraped away to expose the tar sands. Then, steam shovels are fed into dump trucks that transport the sand to an extraction plant. This sand is then processed at high temperatures using large quantities of water and chemicals, to extract the extremely viscous tar (Smith, 2009). In general, processes related to oil sands refining, extraction and processing have undesirable social, economic and environmental effects, as discussed here. Socio-economic effects The tar sands in Canada have been proven to have negative economic effects on the Canadian population. and Alberta. It is the most unfriendly economic activity, killing birds, insects and other creatures. Indeed, mining, in...... middle of paper ...... external relations, Center for Geo-economic Studies. Phillips, M. (2013). Why Canada's tar sands look like a shaky investment. Retrieved December 23, 2013 from www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/kxl-FINAL-Sun-24-Nov-CLEAN-FINAL.pdfSiegel, P. (2012). Tar sands oil: pros and cons. Retrieved December 24, 2013 from www.triplepundit.com/2012/04/tar-sands-oil-pros-cons/?doing_wp_cronSmith, C. (2009). How it works: Canada's tar sands. United Nations University, Vol.1, No. 110. Retrieved December 24, 2013 from http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/canadas-oil-sands Timilsina, G, (2005). Economic Impacts of Alberta Oil Sands, Canadian Energy Research Institute. Yunchez. (2012). Advantages and disadvantages of tar sands. Accessed December 24, 2013, from www.studymode.com/essays/Advantages-And-Disadvantages-Of-Oil-Sands-1184952.html