The HarperCons are certainly giving the regina mom a lot of opportunity to diss them. And that would be fun! Perhaps, if we give them enough rope… I know. It’s wishful thinking, mirroring theirs, apparently. As a poster at one of the web boards I frequent said, “It’s like the
Continue readingTag: Ethical Oil
DeSmogBlog: Jim Hoggan Op-Ed in Vancouver Sun: Who Gets A Say In Our Democracy?
Tanker disaster.jpg Jim Hoggan, DeSmogBlog co-founder and president, has an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun today discussing the "ethical oil" crowd's attacks on democracy in the Enbridge Northern Gateway public hearings. Head over to the Vancouver Sun to read it: "Who gets a say in our democracy?" Here is an
Continue readingOily in Canada, eh?
Franke James, the artist who was blacklisted by the HarperCons, lives in Joe Oliver’s riding. She was excited to learn that he is open to meeting with environmental groups. So, she’s issued a public letter, taking him up on his offer and requesting a meeting with him. Today in the
Continue readingHellberta: Why the dinosaur propaganda system can’t use social media effectively
Lately I have been swinging my sights on to Ethical Oil’s latest mouthpiece Kathryn Marshall. Of course I am not a radical environmentalist; what angers me about Ethical Oil is how insulting their campaign is. Their campaign is propaganda designed to fool Canadians, not other countries. The Ethical Oil campaign
Continue readingPMO Hates Gays & Greens, Judges & Nurses, AKA “Foreign Radicals”
Wow! This media AlerteInfoAlert from the Prime Minister’s Office is a sight to behold, dear Reader. Do take a moment to thank Kady O’Malley for postponing her book-reading and sleep in order to share it with us. the regina mom is also foregoing some book-reading and sleep to write this.
Continue readingEnemygate: 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 readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Harper’s Attack, Redford’s Consensus: Building National Support for the Oilsands
With Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Alison Redford, we see two starkly different strategies employed to build support for the oilsands nationally.
In recent weeks, Prime Minister Harper, as well as Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, have adopted the meme first introduced by Ethical Oil and its acolytes, painting all opponents to the Northern Gateway Pipeline — which seeks to ship oilsands bitumen from Alberta to Asia via Kitimat, B.C — as foreign proxies sabotaging Canada’s economic interests. Unabashedly disingenuous as it attempts to other First Nations and non-First Nations communities along the proposed route that oppose the pipeline, as well as the numerous Canadian ENGOs whose history of advancing environmental causes in this country dates back well before the oilsands became an economic imperative.
The goal here is to impose the oilsands on the country by masking it in the language of “Canadian” versus “Foreign” interests, McCarthyizing acceptance. Far from winning over critics, the approach is likely to further polarize Canadians on the issue.
In contrast to bullying opponents, Premier Redford has quietly been working to build consensus on the oilsands, winning over provinces that her predecessors may at one time have labeled as detractors through her push for a national energy strategy. First championed at the Intergovernmental Energy and Mines Ministers Conference in Kananaskis last July, Redford has won support from western allies such Saskatchewan and British Columbia, as well as traditional critics such as Quebec, where support for the oilsands are at the lowest levels in the country.
Redford’s message to her counterparts is for them to collectively harness their province’s unique energy strengths, transforming Canada into both an energy and environmental super power. This level of collaboration will invariably require trade offs, which although currently undefined, may require Alberta to address the oilsand’s poor environmental performance sooner than anticipated.
Yet to Redford, this is likely a welcomed risk. Committing the provinces to a national energy strategy where the oilsands play a pivotal role, strengthens the resource’s economic viability at home and abroad.
Canadian history is rife with examples of the federal government unilaterally proceeding on divisive matters of national concern in a belligerent manner with little regard to opponents. Trust erodes, federalism is undermined, and matters that require consensus to proceed and sustain in the long term become polarized to the extreme.
National projects in the national interest — as the oilsands should be viewed — require consensus building, bringing critics on board through compromise, whether they are provincial counterparts, First Nations, or ENGOs. In this case, its requires the oilsands to transform from being the Alberta Oilsands to the Canadian Oilsands, with opponents buying in at various stages of development. The subsequent policy erosion will be offset with a strong, broad base of support, which will reap far greater rewards for the resource than proceeding along its current trajectory.
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Harper’s Attack, Redford’s Consensus: Building National Support for the Oilsands
The Alberta Oilsands are a source of intense debate and discord both domestically and internationally. However, the future prosperity of the nation is inherently linked to Canada’s ability to take advantage of the resource and harness its potential. The challenge for proponents therefore becomes to cultivate broad based support, particularly
Continue readingStraight Outta Edmonton: Harper’s Attack, Redford’s Consensus: Building National Support for the Oilsands
The Alberta Oilsands are a source of intense debate and discord both domestically and internationally. However, the future prosperity of the nation is inherently linked to Canada’s ability to take advantage of the resource and harness its potential. The challenge for proponents therefore becomes to cultivate broad based support, particularly
Continue readingHyperbole, Haste and the Nail in the Coffin: The Death of Oil Pipedreams
It’s been more than a week now since Minister Joe (McCarthy) Oilver’s divisive screed appeared in the Globe and Mail. His attempt to create an us’n’them scenario has been thoroughly denounced and discredited in the blogosphere, as the links provided in my previous posts indicate. Commentators, even some in the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Friends with Benefits: The Harper Government, EthicalOil.org and Sun Media Connection
suntv_news.gif Just over a week before the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings began, EthicalOil.org and its allies launched a pre-emptive PR offensive on environmental and First Nations groups who oppose the pipeline. Their new website, OurDecision.ca, and ad campaign are an attempt to invalidate opposition to the pipeline by pointing to
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Rick Mercer’s Hilarious Takedown of the "Radical Foreign Interests" Echo Chamber
This Rick Mercer video started making the rounds several days ago, but in case you missed it, it's a hilarious skewering of the "radical foreign interests" talking point that the 'ethical oil' crowd is trying to inject into the debate over the Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline proposal. Watch:
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Do Tar Sands Have Libel Lawyers?
Levant said the oilsands have been “defamed” by a number of organizations… Ezra, getting them all riled up in Fort Mac.
Continue readingNancy Pelosi: Keystone XL oil was "always destined for overseas … it wasn’t for domestic consumption."
No surprise here. “If the Republicans cared so much about the Keystone pipeline, they would not have narrowed the president’s options by putting it on the time frame they did,” Pelosi said. “They left him very little choice…. This oil was always destined for overseas. It’s just a question of
Continue reading350 or bust: The Myth of Keystone Jobs Must Give Way To Real Job Opportunities For Canadians & Americans
Press Release from Citizens Climate Lobby Canada in response to President Obama’s decision yesterday on the Keystone XL Pipeline: President Obama made the right decision in rejecting approval for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. The constraints imposed by Congress gave insufficient time for a thorough, unbiased review of the pipeline’s
Continue readingObama’s decision on Keystone XL a slap in the face of Harper
And, oh yeah almost forgot to tell ya, about that Keystone boondoggle … I doubt that Stephen Harper or the Conservative agenda factored one bit in the Obama administration’s decision to scrap postpose the Keystone XL pipeline decision – at least until 2014 – but it sure does not look good
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 reading350 or bust: Conservative Party Of Canada’s Unethical Ties To Pro-Tar Sands Lobby
A picture is worth a thousand words: Graphic via Matt Price: Six Degrees Of Separation Between Ethical Oil and Conservatives
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!
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