Things you’ll never see at the CBC;
Since 2007, Geneva-based Oak Foundation, set up by British billionaire Alan Parker, has divided almost $2.6 million among six groups for campaigns against the “tarsands.”
While Oak did not respond to QMI Agency’s interview request, the foundation’s database of grants shows Greenpeace Canada has swallowed more than $860,000 “to create financial and political uncertainty” about the oilsands.
Tides Canada took money to stop “new infrastructure development” like pipelines, while Forest Ethics accepted cash to stop the Northern Gateway and for “creating a perception of economic risk” around the oilsands.
West Coast Environmental Law, Environmental Defence Canada, and the World Wildlife Fund Canada received Oak’s anti-oilsands money, too.
And then, there’s the British government…
Related – “Impressive! He’s found a way for a president to vote ‘present.’”
Dear Minister Kent,
The linked article documents the extent of foreign involvement in efforts to kill the oil industry in Canada. I respectfully suggest that it demands a response from you.
Sincerely,
cc: PM Harper
I guess “globalization” is OK when the money flows into thier pockets.
And don’t forget if you buy a plastic bag at Loblaws the money goes to WWF.
Don’t help them attack Canadian jobs and energy!
What Harper could do is put the whole Oilsands/pipeline issue to a binding national referendum, with everything on the table. The economic impact and the social programs that will be cut, the reduced transfer payments to provinces and the cuts in International aid. After all, we are talking about the primary driver in our economy. No more outside intervention, no more court challenges. Also make it clear that Indian Affairs will take a significant cut along with other Federal depts. CBC…take note.
It is a gamble but would save a lot of time and headaches, not to mention it would shut down the greenies. If the last election is any indication , Canadians would approve. Time to take off the gloves and fight back. The future of the planet is not in danger but the future of our economy is.
Poor old Jeffie Simpson is having an end of year meltdown, over the failure of Kyoto.
What does this latte Liberal not understand about Kyoto? It was never about climate, that was the smokescreen for the third world wealth redistribution that is was truly designed to do.
Kyoto has sure worked out well for Europe, hasn’t it? And as for the reports of China playing a ‘leadership role’, what a joke! The only thing China did, was to hint they may consider reduction in 9 years time. Meanwhile, China continues its rapid expansion of polluting power plants and factories.
But Jeffie never reports that, does he? Friends of Liberals will never be pointed out for embarassment by the MSM
jsimpson@globeandmail.com
Nope, what I think they should do is put the necessary approvals in place and then in an Act of Parliament, state that a referendum of all residents of Ft. MacMurray MUST be held in order to redact the law.
I mean if you ask the liberals and the ndp (and the media) current governments are able to BIND the actions of future governments this way (right Ralph Goodale).
Simpson melted down a long time ago.
What is left is decaying liberal residue with a tinge of green mold.
All this foreign money buying influence in Canada . . . Maude Barlow must be outraged, simply outraged I tell you.
If I was Harper I would be licking my chops just waiting for the right time to whack these eco loonie global warming nutters up side their job and prosperity killing heads.
Time to beat down the environmentalists so hard they stay down for a long time.
There is a legal, technical term for this: its called “economic espionage”, and its as serious and as significant as diplomatic espionage, and should be pursued accordingly, with amendments to whatever laws are necessary to maximize the prosecution.
Once again the monumental hypocrisy of the left is on full display. I recall the outraged and spittle laced editorials and opinion pieces that greeted Frank Luntz when he had the temerity to venture north of the 49th to advize conservatives on political messaging, including environmental issues.
To listen to the left, national soveriegnty had been compromised the moment Luntz crossed the border.
Fast forward five years and the influx of hundreds of millions of foriegn dollars for the specific purpose of influencing public opinion and ultimately domestic policy, is greeted by crickets.
Leftardism really is a disease…
From the Globe and Mail:
According to a recent international poll, Canada has the highest number of citizens of any economically advanced country who deny that human activity causes global warming Dec 16, 2011 6:24PM EST 1470
Gee, I always hoped we were a little smarter, but now we have proof.
Disease or mental disorder?
propaganda, big money, obfuscation…. isnt that the way the right wing does it?
Economic Treason.
It should be illegal.
Any government types here? When non-profits stray too far into politics they could become subject to income taxes and lose tax deductability of donations. Or maybe that threat only applies to churches.
Why aren’t foreign donations to manipulate local politics illegal? Why is it always money from US billionaires that attempts to destroy our economy? It should be illegal for a Canadian group to accept funds and illegal for US billionaires to give. Sent them to jail.
No, do not count on the CBC to cover this. They did however excessive coverage of stating that the American Rifle Association was involved in ending our long gun registry, but the problem is that it was a total lie. At the same time no a peep from them about more than 30 million foreign dollars from radical leftist Americans given to groups to block the oil sands development. Funny how the same CBC and fellow Canadian leftists go bananas at the hint of American meddling in other situations, yet turn a blind eye to this blatant interference. If one had ever had any doubts about the CBC and the MSM being agenda-driven, it is impossible to continue to deny it.
Foreign funding to meddle in our national affairs should most certainly be illegal and it must be stopped.
Two things: first, we need to change the law such that non-profits cannot engage in political lobbying of any sort, nor provide funds for others to do so.
Second: CSIS needs to get a “double O” section.
There has to be a Law somewhere that forbids funneling money from foreign Countries to influence politics here. Its just nuts that the People who live here are being out spent by powers that would break us.
“Two things: first, we need to change the law such that non-profits cannot engage in political lobbying of any sort, nor provide funds for others to do so.
Second: CSIS needs to get a “double O” section.
Posted by: gordinkneehill at December 18, 2011 2:07 PM”
oh lookie here. gordo lobbies for more big gubbamint.
likewise mr dreamland.
Ha! the “Related” link got me thinking…Is it possible to be simultaneously vacuous, vain, malicious and stupid..?
Actually, I really don’t think that ‘they’ are trying to destroy our economy OR shutdown the Oil Sands.
I think what is really going on here are attempts to limit the extractions from the oil sands in order to limit the supply…that way the value of other oil stays higher.
As well,from the American perspective, any restriction to the exporting of Canadian oil to another foreign country (i.e. China) means that there is basically a limitless supply of cheap(er) oil for the US market.
If Canada were successful with getting the pipeline to the west coast and was able to export 1,000,000 barrels of oil or so per day (or its equivalence in terms of bitumen), the US would have to pay a price that is closer to the world price for oil, versus that actually paid for the product that comes out of the oilsands.
If Canada were to have alternate sources for its product(s), then it will be able to access a price that is closer to the world price and not one that is basically driven down because of an over-supply within the existing oil-related supply system. (there is lots and lots of oil to be extracted from the oil sands, but not nearly enough pipelines or refinery capacity to make it usable…so it sits in Cushing being warehoused with nowhere to go).
So I really think alot of the US-based foreign money being filtered through ‘environmental’ groups is just to restrict our ability to export and therefore keep it ‘safe’ for US consumption.
It’s about time this story attracted more attention, up until now Vivian Krause has been toiling away in obscurity.
At a minimum the government of Canada needs to implement her recommendation for Revenue Canada to require all these non-profits and pseudo charities to declare the source of all their donations, just like they have to in the USA. That would immediately expose the hypocrisy.
Secondly these well funded organizations must be taxed at a rate similar to corporations, they are businesses after all.
Third, native organizations must declare all donations from all sources so that the government can consider clawbacks in transfer paymentsequal to the donations.
Fourth. the provincial governments should buy and distribute copies of Ezra Levant’s Ethical Oil in equal measure to the distribution they made of Al Gores diatribe.
It is now becoming obvious that the education industry’s ridiculous teachings about global warming have had a severely deleterious affect on the population-not just the kids, but most of the idiot parents too. It should be the policy of this government to clearly enunciate the benefits of industry and provide an accounting for social programs that must be CUT if this project is not brought on-stream.
“more pragmatic than ideological”
It only demonstrates what we already knew – that Zero is more concerned about himself than any other consideration. He will sell out his own supporters to keep his feet up on the desk of the Oval Office. How Clintonesque of him.
Ronald Reagan was a political pragmatist too. But he was a consummate compromiser with the opposition, possibly to our detriment. But he put the Cold War at the forefront of policy and he won. He did a lot of talking, but also a lot of doing. Zero hasn’t done anything. He allowed Pelosi and Reid to carry his water. He isn’t just the TOTUS, he is the left-handed pen of the US. He signs bills championed by others and takes full credit. Even calling it “Obamacare” gives him too much credit for effective politics.
Revoke charitable status of all political groups.
“propaganda, big money, obfuscation…. isnt that the way the right wing does it?”
No, Brainiac, it’s more the province of the Left than the Right: O-Dumbo raising $1BN in his Marxist war chest with “donations” from big business (Wall St contributes far more to dems than repubs), and the hundreds of $millions funneled by leftwing d0uche george soros to various political groups, including the criminal front group (as Mark Levin coins it) known as Media Matters, to name a couple.
Come back again, when you’re not quite so Stuck on Stupid.
mhb23re at gmail d0t calm
if “they” (the europeans) want us to close down the oilsands they will just have to invade.
Shutting down the oilsands would reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 38.4 Mt (megatonnes) per year. While that sounds like a lot, Canada only produces 2% of the world’s man-made GHGs and the oilsands only produce 5% of Canada’s total emissions or one tenth of one percent [0.1%] of the world’s GHG emissions. By comparison, the U.S. produces 20.2% of the world’s GHG emissions, and 27% of that comes from toxic polluting coal-fired electricity.
The 530-square-kilometers currently disturbed by the oilsands (which is smaller than the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral , Fla. at 570 square kilometers) is being reclaimed as an ongoing part of the mine plan as required by law and will return to Alberta’s 381,000 square kilometers of boreal forest, which is a huge carbon sink. The boreal forest absorbs 30 tons of carbon [110 tons CO2] per sq km per year. You do the maths, we’ve got the oil sands GHG emissions covered, and that’s just with Alberta’s boreal forest. Canada has about 6 million square kilometers of boreal forest, which absorbs more man-made GHGs than Canadians produce in all our cities, vehicles, aircraft and other industries. The boreal forest combined with the other forests and grasslands in Canada makes Canada a net absorber of GHGs on a global scale.
We’re not only contributing an insignificant amount of GHGs, we absorb it all, as well as taking in additional CO2 produced by the world’s major emitters.
All of the numbers can be easily verified by someone who has the intelligence to do research.
Global CO2 emissions throughout the year:
https://data.gosat.nies.go.jp/GosatBrowseImage/browseImage/XCO2_L3.gif
It’s easy to see where most of the GHGs are coming from. The implications from discussing that would not fit politically correct agendas.
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/japanese-satellites-say-3rd-world-owes-co2-reparations-to-the-west/
CO2 is all about distracting people from toxic pollution. Toxic pollution is very profitable, capturing it is expensive, people don’t want to pay more for clean energy. It’s easier to keep them distracted by the bubbles in beer and champagne so they don’t demand answers to inconvenient questions about toxic pollution, habitat destruction, species extinction, overpopulation…
What mhb said.
Some of you may be naive if you think this is the first time that this has happened. Right now, Canada’s oil industry is just getting back what it dished out in the 1970s and early 1980s with its clandestine support of the ENGOs to fund antinuclear campaigns. Greenpeace and Energy Probe were getting tons of money from the oil and gas boys for their little crusade.
Even in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Enbridge was shovelling money at the Clean Air Alliance in its antinuclear campaign regarding Ontario’s future electricity generation needs.
And the media paid no more attention to that than it did to the current campaign against the oil sands.
I suspect Obama has gone back to his best source for announcement/decisions.
Picture the Kenyan-in-chief, in a loincloth, on a stump. He waits in vain, for the magic words to appear.
It seems he mistook his TELEPROMPTER for a Ouija Board!
Priceless!
These are the corporations that have been brainwashed into preferring unethical oil from dictators.
http://forestethics.org/major-companies-act-to-clean-up-their-transportation-footprints
If you go to the donations page in above link you will see that the Tides foundation is behind it.
Just keep mining.
Let them waste the money, as sure as night follows day the demand for oil continues.
Ignoring ignoramus usually drives them of the cliff.
They don’t want to listen or reason, fine, how are they going to sort out which bit of oil comes from where, if they want to ban its import into their countries let them go ahead, pay them no heed, if the oil goes to China and China produces the goods that they then buy, don’t point it out, just pour another well earn’t beer and rejoice in their chocking hypocrisy.
Ed the Hun- you need to follow the money upstream from the loons; you’ll find the source is very rich individuals like Alan Parker, or George Soros. The politics of these foundations is determined by their founders, who still control them. George Soros, is extremely anti-American; it seems unlikely Tides is in any way an instrument of American policy. Parker’s foundation focuses on ” human rights , women’s issues, homelessness, and the environment”, all very trendy causes among the international jet set.
“…Canada’s oil industry is just getting back what it dished out in the 1970s and early 1980s”
Which ones would those be, Shell (a UK govt oil company), ESSO, Texaco, Philips, Sunoco all US owned? Which Canadian companies would those be? And to keep things in perspective, just about every one of those companies were staking claims and fully involved in uranium exploration in northern Saskatchwean during that time period.
Ed the Hun;
Bang on!
I might suggest a slightly larger conspiracy of producers. ie Opec and particularly the Saudis and the people they can buy. (including Americans) Canadians can be incrediably naive. The dollars and national security issues involved for many countries make it very beneficial if this crude does not displace current suppliers.
It is well established that the Chinese are doing extensive idustrial espionage in the USA and Canada. Are we to believe that there are international forces who would not conspire to keep an extra 2 to 3 million bpd off the market?
Hopefully CSIS is at work and the federal government of this country has the gonads to open the way to west coast shipments!
Po’ed, fact is that the oil companies played footsie with the enviro freaks in the past. To appease them, BP spent a ton of money not just bashing other energy sources but also in sponsoring alternative energy specifically targeted against coal and nuclear.
And I don’t see you denying any of this. Companies should have learned from this that trafficking with the green slime is always a poor idea.
Your point about ownership is irrelevant. In both cases, it’s Canadian jobs which are being sacrificed by this green nonsense. Claiming that “some furriners” did it hardly matters when the contributions were funneled through Imperial Oil and the other Canadian branches.
By the way, it’s Royal Dutch Shell. I think you mean British Petroleum (BP).
@gordinkneehill 14:07
I think CSIS has a “double double” section.
CSIS? Didn’t they do their finest work creating the Heritage Front, while at the same time neglecting Air India was going down in flames.
They thought the big enemy was white racism while they were unable to see the inherent white racism in themselvers when they ignored warnings of airplane bombings.
The charitable status off all environmental and whatever organizations should be cancelled, immediately. Subject to pending investigations as to their funding and purpose. Further, maybe their bank accounts should be frozen until they can demonstrate that they are not the agents of foreign powers.
Anti Oil Sands and Anti Semitic are both Idiot alerts. It is idiotic to be anti semitic and it is idiotic to be anti oil sands.
I have been involveded in the oil industry in Alberta all my life and have seen all the idiots over time charge the beast with great passion and silly science.
Lets review. Trudeau, Ontario Quebec, David Sakooky, the liberal party the dippers , Hollywood, Chiquita bananas, Green Peace, and Green Peace and Green Peace again and again ect.
All have charged the beast and all have lost. The President of the United States is the latest to experience this pleasure.
All this and in the end last week the Federal Government gave the go ahead for a new mine. So face it the war is over millions of dollare have been spent and nothing.
If you are against the oil sands it must suck to be you.
Welcome to Alberta Hoaser.
With apologies to Bob and Doug, it should be hoser. If you do not know who Bob and Doug are look it up hose-head. Coo coo coo roo coo coo coo.
I have been of the opinion for a long time that such NGO’s such as the Suzuki Foundation, Cukier’s Coalition…, GeenPeace etc..should lose their tax exempt statis for overt, blantant political activity.
Besides blunting their anti-social influence, it would be a welcome source of revenue.
@sasquatch: Instead of just losing tax-free status, perhaps activists receiving foreign funding shuld have to preface every press release with a statutory declaration to the effect that “This is a paid political message sponsored by…”.
Also, if a lobby group gets any of its funding – even a cent – from anyone other than from individual Canadians, it must declare that “This message is brought to you by political lobbyists who are not required to disclose the source of their funding, nor the aims of their organizations”
Why would a billionaire be funding his enemies? Guilt?
If you can induce unearned guilt in people – and doing so is one of the left’s major tools – you’ve got them by the short and curlies.
Doc and sasquatch – great ideas and perfectly reasonable. Let’s rid ourselves of any illusions that these organizations deserve special treatment. Their dishonesty with the electorate corrupts democracy the same way that fraud in the marketplace corrupts commerce. Our legislators have found it necessary to tweak statutes as the nature of economic crimes have evolved; it is high time they did the same to address the evolving threat of political fraud, which has become the left’s weapon of choice against our civil society.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-022-eng.html
These groups are already at odds with charity laws. They are not trying to directly save animals. They are trying to change laws to save animals. I am not sure why no-one is in jail for tax evasion. I have heard of churches threatened. Why not enviro bozos?
nv53: “Why would a billionaire be funding his enemies? Guilt?”
In part it’s a protection racket. Support them so they won’t go after you but after your enemies. In part, you’re right, it’s guilt, which explains that dead corporate pirate Sir James Goldsmith.
Sasquatch, absolutely. All of these groups should have lost their charity status long ago.
Doc, we first have to force through a law requiring public lobbyists to disclose their funding. What you don’t know is that we never even had a law requiring them to do an internal financial audit until 2010, let alone a requirement to disclose.