Joe Oliver: International Fossil Fuel Industry Shill

People regardless of their nationality are fighting the same corporate monster around the world. It is clear this is a matter of survival for the human species. We are all in this together. The minister, in blind obedience to the fossil fuel industry like the energy czars in most of the other industrialized nations, seeks to pit “loyal” Canadians against “disloyal” Canadians. Although these facts should be obvious to the vast majority of Canadians, their corporate media (the best media money can buy) will continue to obfuscate the facts and maintain the corporate illusions. If we don't unite worldwide to destroy this leviathan it will destroys us! Thanks again Tyee for trying to shed a little light on matters critical to humanity.

Moving beyond calling a spade a spade

With so much “self-censorship” driven media reporting including from and particularly Canada’s publicly funded CBC, (but don’t kid yourself, so are the others through a long list of hidden subsidies such as among other things as elections Canada spending rules) which have have held their punches and thereby provided an air of legitimacy to Harper/Oliver’s attacks, my hats off to both the TYEE and Ross McMillan “ for providing part of the other side, the side of interest more in keeping with the interest of the 99%.

Completely out of character for the spade of recent CBC reporting, As it Happens had one superb interview regarding some background concerning the Northern Gateway with “Terry Glavin is an author and a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and he's written several columns about Sinopec, a giant in China's petroleum and chemical industry. And also a possible giant in Canada's oil industry” in which it was made rather clear on how many issues from human rights in China, to corporate goons on which Harper as made a complete flipflop from earlier Conservative policies, all to the advantange of the hidden 1%

While still available, I would courage hearing http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/episode/2012/01/30/the-monday-edition-11/
and providing a public transcript here on the Tyee.

To rephrase Ross McMillan “ article, it embodies well that through democracy synergies are achieved which raise the universal standard of living in sustainable ways. Economics, of which Harper is but an imposter, actually includes the understanding of the "law of comparative advantage" by which, if the commission truly does its job, 99% of Canadians and the environment will be well served.

While are options between elections preclude us mostly from regime change, in anticipation of the next election, if there still will be one I encourage visiting www.vote123.ca on how to empower the 99% to elect who we want regardless of what our partisan tasks masters want.
When reviewing and to avoid Mr big brother search engine’s arm you can review the site using www.pagewash.com as a filter and use https://startpage.com as your private search engine thereby avoiding big brother’s snooping into seeing who is doing what

George Smith

Very well said!

To move from talk to walk during the very limited time still left to make real life and earth saving changes, I would invite you, the royal you interested in making substantive democratic driven change, to make contact. Not that I am suggesting I can do it for you, but on the bases of collective self-help...

Canadians Want the Truth

A truly "honest" debate would begin with a full accounting of the truth.

Ross has suggested my account was "inaccurate" but he hasn't said it was untruthful.

Ross is the only man who knows exactly what the Prime Minister's Office said to him, and whether in fact, they labelled ForestEthics Canada an "Enemy of the Government of Canada," and an "Enemy of the People of Canada."

So far, Ross isn't saying, which is unfortunate because it is information that would help his organization's cause immeasurably.

I know Ross' heart is in the right place, but he continues to be unwilling to say what actually happened with the PMO.

If you know Ross, please encourage him to come forward with the truth...we're all ears.

Best regards,

Andrew.

Andrew Frank...

..and Ross McMillan still dodge their major exposure - tax advantaged charitable funds being used for non charitable acts.

Good strategy though to use offense as defense.

Thank you Tyee and Ross McMillan

for an outstanding article. This deserves to be spread far and wide. It is sad, but not unsurprising given the proponents, that the debate about the Northern Gateway pipeline has dropped to the level it has.

Special kudos also for the disclaimer at the bottom of the article!

from talk to walk

Yes, let’s talk truthfully about real risks and opportunities associated with a shift beyond hydorcarbon energy sources. Do we state up front that this shift means we will have to accept significant lifestyle changes? Are we prepared to seriously examine our expectations? Or, do we start from a faulty premise that claims alternative energy will allow energy hogs (Canadian and American) to continue their extravagent lifestyle and carry on living the dysfunctional endless-growth dream?

Yes, some Canadians do care about and deeply value their environment but, compared to those that don’t care (the corporate world), the number of concerned folks involved in charitable conservation organizations and social justice groups is small and powerless. Smaller still is the number that actually walk the talk.

This doesn’t mean that a few individuals and groups aren’t effective; they are. But the reason they are effective is because Canada is awash in profits from extracting environmental riches, and their focus hasn’t seriously impacted those profits. As the energy crunch starts to hit home, costs escalate and the challenges of basic survival for the corporation and individual start to have greater impact, even those fighting for a change in focus away from tarsands and pipelines will wonder where those that care about the truth have gone.

I trust this guy about as

I trust this guy about as much as the oil guys...i.e. not much at all.
his group has alterior motives for sure...and the public deserves an 'open and honest' look at the funding Tides Canada gets and metes out...and how this mostly political work is still deemed worthy of charitable status...

if the govt actually said groups like yours are enemies of the state then I have no problem with it all due to your propensity to want to stop or delay any and all development.....the real world doesnt run on foundation money, people need jobs not 'grants' and other bribes from groups like yours

Just a reminder...

Upon reading the comments here, I am reminded of Margaret Mead's famous quote. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Tides Canada still has it wrong, imo

Tides Canada believes that ecological and social factors must be considered alongside the quest for profits in decisions that affect our future.

The ecological and social factors must be considered paramount to the quest for profits. Until this is understood comprehensively, our society will continue down the wrong road in one variation or another. It really is that simple.

@Andrew

If a truly "honest" debate would begin with a full accounting of the truth, why did you not discuss in your letter the fact that your former employer is an advocacy group, and the valid ethical concerns about using charitable resources for non-charitable purposes? You make a lot of non-committal insinuations about an amorphous PMO, but when you strip away the righteously indignant talk, you have not given any reason why your employer and Tides should be treated any differently from every other NGO that must follow the rules that are based on 400 years of common law.

Wow! A lot of unfamiliar commenters here...

Wow! A lot of unfamiliar commenters here...

Seems like the net crawling CPC supporters are out in force. While you may have issues with what Ross Macmillan is not saying, what he says about the process is on the mark. In all my years I've never seen the government get so outrightly belligerent and effectively threaten the legitimacy of an environmental review.

Realistically, environmental reviews rarely stop projects and apparently the National Energy Board approves almost every proposal it reviews. We have three competing pipelines that will ship tar sands bitumen with no value added for export, while half of Canada relies on imported oil. About 30 years ago we pushed natural gas pipelines east across this country. Is it not time we did that for oil? We'll be our own customer. We'll have jobs in building and operating this pipeline and jobs expanding upgrading and refining capacity.

These three proposals are nuts: No overall energy strategy or plan for Canada's future, huge sunk costs in infrastructure with the intent to get that tar out of the ground and out of the country like we HAVE to get rid of it. No value-added processing, which foreign buyers will then be able to enforce with international trade agreements. Miners of bitumen and drawers of water...

Pot Calling the Kettle Black!

Like the majority of environmentalists, Ross McMillan thinks that scrutiny should be a one-way street. While scrutiny of the business community and government by environmentalists is considered necessary, any scrutiny of the environmental movement is met with disingenuous surprise and downright hostility. They like to think of themselves as the White Knights defending the public interest, but sadly they're not. They have an ideological agenda that, while it may not be as recognized as that of business and political parties, is as well defined.

Mr. McMillan's call for an "open, honest debate about energy" is overshadowed by the tactics of various environmental groups. The Dogwood Initiative, which receives funding from Tides Canada, bragged on its website that it signed up 1,600 people to speak at the Northern Gateway hearings. Other environmental groups have been as aggressive in stacking those hearings for the purpose of manipulating the panel and its perceptions of public opinion.

And how many times in the past, after an “open and honest debate” in which environmentalists didn't prevail, has the result been roadblocks, contempt of court proceedings and jail time. Think Clayoquot and Eagle Ridge Bluffs as just two examples. Tides Canada has funded environmental groups that have used this tactic.

While I don't support the Conservatives, I do agree with Oliver's observations that there is an ideological agenda behind environmental groups. Maybe it's time for Tides Canada and the beneficiaries of its funding to come clean and tell us all exactly what it is. It's a lot more than just a clean environment.

northern gateway

less than two hundred jobs to operate pipeline.
what does BC get? higher prices at the pumps.
sending raw natural resources out of country is stupid economics just the same as sending raw logs to China stupid or building ferries elsewhere.lets get jobs back to Canada and BC.

ckent25

"...the fact that your former employer is an advocacy group, and the valid ethical concerns about using charitable resources for non-charitable purposes?"

Tides is not a charity. Neither is the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, Greenpeace, nor Sierra Fund, all of which have the same (or greater) tax-deductible status.

You mistake the tax-deductible not-for-profit status of Tides and others like it for the charitable status of charitable organizations such as the Sisters of St. Joseph, whose entire organization is dedicated to the relief of poverty among men and women in dire financial straits without reference to their circumstances.

Tides' attempt at debate is a more honest attempt than yours is, which relies on skulduggery to confuse.

xforestworker

Innuendo? It's becoming your stock-in-trade. I don't see one whit of evidence nor one honestly-held conviction that someone at Tides is getting rich off the process.

Unlike Enbridge where Nikiforuk points out that consultants have been hired to sham the natives into participating in a green-washing process despite the decisions of senior leadership to proceed based on the acknowledgement that their project is a foregone conclusion by virtue of their paid-up relationship with the federal Conservatives, not to mention the province of Alberta who won't have to pay one thin dime toward the costs of this venture.

You keep grinding that axe, you won't have enough metal left to carve a toothpick.

Say, what zalm???

Just where is it that I say someone at "Tides is getting rich off the process"??

Maybe you should go back and read my posting again and then take a few deep breaths to calm down.

I have never said that environmentalists are getting rich from being environmentalists, although it would be interesting to have public disclosure of the salaries of the heads of Greenpeace and the misnamed ForestEthics. What I'm asking for here is to have environmentalists come clean about their ideological agenda. I spelled it out a couple of weeks ago in another post.