Marshall urging open-mindedness about fracking

Newfoundland and Labrador's Natural Resources minister is encouraging people to be open-minded about fracking and look at both sides of the argument before making a judgment on the controversial process.

Tom Marshall recently returned from Saskatchewan where he saw fracking in actiona process in which chemicals and waterare pumped into rock in an effort to extract oil.

Marshall said despite a lot of public outrage in the province over the prospect of fracking, people in other areas of the country don't seem bothered by the process.

"I was surprised because I've been looking at it negatively because all the information I've been getting has been very negative, so I was very surprised by their attitude," he said.

According to Marshall, people against fracking would be well-served to do some more research before jumping to conclusions.

"Get informedget as much information as you can. Don't base your decisions on one person or one set of facts that you see, don't base it on movies or TV shows," Marshall said.

"Get the factsthat's what I'm trying to do. I want to make sure any decisions here are based on science and not emotions."

Marshall said he plans to follow up with politicians in British Columbia and Manitoba in the coming months to get their take on the fracking process.