Have you noticed a lack of fairness and balance in reporting on Northern Gateway by corporate media? It is not accidental. A similar project in the USA has been examined in detail. Media Matters’ environmental team analyzed news coverage of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline between August 1 and December
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Enemygate: Harper’s divisive politics
Margaret Atwood has dubbed it ‘Enemygate’. ForestEthics whistleblower Andrew Frank accuses Harper of bullying tactics. John Bennett of the Sierra Club frets that this is “a scary time for Canadian democracy”. With the Prime Minister calling any opposition to his pet Keystone project, “enemy of the Government of Canada”, the
Continue readingMedia Matters: US media favoured Keystone XL proponents over opponents by wide margin
No surprise here. With the exceptions of USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, every news outlet included in this study quoted or hosted more people in favor of the pipeline than opposed. That’s just the US media. You can comfortably posit that the coverage in the largely conservative Canadian
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Economic development whatever the cost!
Whatever is good or bad in Stephen Harper’s speech is degraded for me by his choice of location for delivering it. The Prime Minister of Canada flew to Switzerland to join the world’s rich and powerful to articulate his vision for our country, a vision that, instead of being an
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Links regarding oily pipeline politics
One of our readers supplied links to articles published by DesmogBlog and I moved the links into this separate item. These articles complement and expand on the message I intended in Regulators throwing loaded dice. DeSmogBlog covers the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal and how NEB hearings are designed to block
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Built to Fail: National Energy Board Muzzles Environmental Scientists In Enbridge Northern Gateway Hearing
Picture 1.png The Obama Administration’s recent decision to deny TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline is monumental. Alongside the rousing display of public environmental activism sparked by the proposed pipeline, the US government finally showed its environmental assessment process has a backbone. And given this timely announcement, which
Continue reading350 or bust: Affadavit: PM Harper’s Office Labels Environmental Charity “Enemy of Canada”
Andrew Frank is a Canadian citizen, and the former Senior Communications Manager with ForestEthics Canada. He is also an instructor in the Environmental Protection Technology program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, in Surrey, British Columbia. Mr Frank released this letter addressed to Canadians yesterday: A Whistleblower’s Open Letter to the Citizens of
Continue readingOne pipeline down, one to go
So Obama has sunk the Keystone XL pipeline—at least temporarily. He has said Trans Canada can apply again, so perhaps he’s just being an election-year tease. Nonetheless, it’s a victory against the tar sands monolith. And that’s what it’s all about, not just shutting down a pipeline, but shutting down
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Unaccountable Oil: Is Enbridge Already Polluting the Canadian (Political) Environment?
Enbridge oil spill.jpg If the pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. is content to cower behind a 20-something blog manager rather than acknowledge its role in the recent attack on the patriotism of Canadian environmentalists, what hope have we that the company would ever stand accountable for the accidents that will occur
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: When is "Foreign" Money and Influence, Not "Foreign" Money and Influence?
The Harper government has tried a new strategy in pushing through the Gateway Pipeline. Apparently, we are now under attack by “foreigners”. “Foreign” money is driving the debate. “Foreign” radicals are trying to stop progress. And yet “foreign” ownership of the Tar Sands has accelerated since they took power. Our
Continue readingdeSmog Blog: Enbridge chair and six of 12 directors are American
Talk about your foreign influence! But according to a secret source (okay: it’s the company website), Enbridge Chair David Arledge and six of the 12 Enbridge directors are (everyone get ready to gasp in unison): AMERICANS!
Continue readingChatty Kathy Marshall doll debuts
Just pull the ring. You never know what she’ll say next. Kathryn Marshall. She’s no puppet. She’s a doll!
Continue readingJimBobby Sez: Enbridge lobbied 23 MPs, 3 deputy ministers, 1 chief of staff & other public office holders
(Reprinted from Lobby Monitor Newsletter)Enbridge did fall lobbying blitzJanuary 12, 2012 – 9:22am | Lobby Monitor Staff In-house lobbyists with Enbridge, the Calgary-based energy company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline, lobbied 23 MPs, three deputy ministers, one chief of staff and other designated public office holders this fall, communication
Continue readingJimBobby Sez: Enbridge lobbied 23 MPs, 3 deputy ministers, 1 chief of staff & other public office holders
(Reprinted from Lobby Monitor Newsletter)
Enbridge did fall lobbying blitz
January 12, 2012 – 9:22am | Lobby Monitor Staff
In-house lobbyists with Enbridge, the Calgary-based energy company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline, lobbied 23 MPs, three deputy ministers, one chief of staff and other designated public office holders this fall, communication reports filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying show.
Registrations filed with the commissioner’s office have Patrick Daniel, Enbridge’s president and CEO, listed as the responsible officer for the firm’s in-house lobbying. D’Arcy Levesque, the vice president of public and government affairs, and Sonya Savage, the senior manager of government relations, are identified as the two company officials whose lobbying activities represent 20 per cent or more of their duties.
A communication report does not specify which officials did the lobbying, or if the communication was face-to-face or by telephone.
The registration says Enbridge officials were to lobby on “bills (such as C-606 “An Act to amend the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (Prohibition against the transportation of oil by tankers on Canada’s Pacific North Coast) – measure or area of interest is the proposed ban on oil tanker traffic.”
It also noted there could be “discussions regarding the development of a national energy strategy and the approach to opening new markets for natural resources” and that the company would be “seeking improved efficiencies in the environmental assessment processes.”
One communication shows Enbridge lobbied 22 MPs, all of them Conservative, at once. Another communication shows Enbridge’s in-house lobbyists lobbied Louis Levesque, deputy minister of international trade at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Michael Wernick, deputy minister at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and Michael Horgan, a deputy minister at the finance ministry, were also lobbied, according to two separate communications.
Enbridge is also working with outside consultants, the registry showed. Ensight Canada’s Jacquie LaRoque, Gregory Kolz and Robin Sears are registered to lobby the House of Commons and the Senate on behalf of the company.
Continue readingJimBobby Sez: Enbridge lobbied 23 MPs, 3 deputy ministers, 1 chief of staff & other public office holders
(Reprinted from Lobby Monitor Newsletter)Enbridge did fall lobbying blitzJanuary 12, 2012 – 9:22am | Lobby Monitor Staff In-house lobbyists with Enbridge, the Calgary-based energy company behind the controversial Northern Gateway Pipeline, lobbied 23 MPs, three deputy ministers, one chief of staff and other designated public office holders this fall, communication
Continue readingIt’s our ‘giant national park’. Let’s keep it that way.
Canada is not the exclusive property of Stephen Harper, the Conservative party or the oil companies. We share this land and we want to preserve our coastlines, lakes and rivers. We will not sell our soul for a buck. We want to keep this land pristine. Listen to us. It is not
Continue readingTanker Safety
There is much talk these days about the safety of transporting bitumen via tankers in the Douglas Channel and out into Hecate Straight. The proponentspimps of the project insist that technology is just wonderful and there will be the utmost care taken to avoid the unthinkable, a catastrophic spill on
Continue readingHuffington Post’s Kathryn Marshall has meltdown on Power & Politics. Goes viral. UPDATED
When I looked yesterday afternoon at the now famous Kathryn Marshall Ethical Oil freakout on youtube, the hits were just 6,000. It’s now well over 26,000 and quickly rising. Word has been blazing around the web, snaking its way into the States where amused commenters are comparing Marshall’s clueless and belligerent approach to
Continue readingHuffington Post’s Kathryn Marshall meltdown on Power & Politics goes viral
It took awhile but when I looked this afternoon at the now famous Kathryn Marshall Ethical Oil freakout on youtube, the hits were just 6,000. It’s now over 14,000 and rising. Word has been blazing around the web, snaking its way into the States, where amused commenters are comparing Marshall’s
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Cozy Ties: Astroturf ‘Ethical Oil’ and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansion
hamish marshall and stephen harper.jpg As the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Joint Review Panel begins hearing over 4,000 comments submitted by community members, First Nations, governments, and environmental groups, the tar sands front group EthicalOil.org has launched its latest PR offensive in support of the pipeline. OurDecision.ca, the new astroturf ad
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