In the pocket of the American rich;

Last week, Michael Ignatieff and 142 other Members of Parliament voted in favour of a motion to ban oil tanker traffic on the north coast of British Columbia. This week, Liberal MP Joyce Murray from Vancouver Quadra introduced Bill C-606 to put that motion into law by amending the Canada Shipping Act to prohibit oil tanker traffic on the north and central coast of British Columbia.
[…]
If marine conservation were really the issue, the ban wouldn’t be only for the north coast of British Columbia and U.S. foundations would be funding a tanker ban in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, on the Eastern Seaboard and in the Gulf of Mexico. But no, U.S. foundations are funding a tanker ban campaign only for the central and the north coast of British Columbia — right smack where oil tankers, export-bound for Asia would need to travel.
The day the House of Commons voted for the tanker ban, I was in Ottawa at the invitation of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. On the basis of U.S. tax returns that I’ve analyzed on my own nickel — with additional data from Vancouver consultant Rob Scagel — I testified that since 2000, U.S. foundations have spent upward of $300-million on “conservation” initiatives and the so-called “reform” of resource-based industries in Canada. That $300-million sounds like a lot — and it is — but it is less than 3% of the $11.7-billion that U.S. foundations have spent since 2000 on environmental and wildlife protection.
[…]
Since 2004, U.S. foundations have granted $18-million specifically for “demarketing” Alberta oil. Demarketing is reducing demand or shifting demand away. The lion’s share of that $18-million went to the U.S. Tides Foundation ($7-million), Tides Canada ($2-million), the Pembina Foundation ($4-million) and Corporate Ethics International ($1.2-million).
Several U.S. foundations made grants that explicitly spell out over-reliance on fossil fuels as a matter of national security. By their own admission, protecting the environment isn’t their only concern.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund granted $105,000 specifically to the First Nations at the Kitimat village, which is right at the mouth of the Douglas Channel. That’s precisely where export-bound oil tankers would need to load. That included $70,000 for an anniversary celebration in 2004 and $35,000 for a ceremonial event in 2006. Of all the aboriginal people in the world, why is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund giving money to the First Nations at Kitimat Village?

Read the whole thing, and then send it to your Member of Parliament.