By: Council of Canadians | Press Release: In response to the federal budget, representatives of the Council of Canadians made the following comments: “This budget fails Canadians. It continues a privatization agenda for water, a trade agenda that doesn’t equate to job growth, a health care agenda that will cut billions [...]

The post Federal Budget 2013 fails Canadians, says Council of Canadians appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

EXCLUSIVE / Germany’s largest and most prestigious research institute has pulled out of a Canadian government-funded CAN$25 million research project into sustainable solutions to tar sands pollution, citing fears for its environmental reputation.

[...]

“As an environmental research centre we have an independent role as an honest broker and doing research in this constellation could have had reputational problems for us, especially after Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol,” he said.  

EXCLUSIVE / Germany’s largest and most prestigious research institute has pulled out of a Canadian government-funded CAN$25 million research project into sustainable solutions to tar sands pollution, citing fears for its environmental reputation.

[...]

“As an environmental research centre we have an independent role as an honest broker and doing research in this constellation could have had reputational problems for us, especially after Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol,” he said.  

Stephen Harper’s government and a big part of Canada’s ruling establishment are in a frenzy over Keystone XL. 

The Conservatives and their provincial allies have spent millions (probably tens of millions) of dollars in public money to push a pipeline that will export Canadian jobs, trample First Nations rights and, overall, be bad for the environment. But it’ll be good for the profit margins of some of their oil industry friends. 

In recent weeks, a half dozen Conservative ministers have trekked south to push for the approval of the pipeline while Harper has made it the top priority for Canada’s embassy and 22 consular offices in the U.S for the last three years.

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If Alison Redford gets to define Canadian patriotism, then I don’t want to be patriotic.

The Alberta premier yesterday accused federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair of “a fundamental betrayal of Canada’s long-term economic interests” after the latter took a trip to DC in what is being widely interpreted as an effort to convince the Americans not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta.

Other Conservatives at the federal level have adopted the same rhetoric. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver — of “foreign-funded radicals” fame — implied that the Opposition leader was unfit to govern, stating, “Governing means standing for Canada’s interests and Canada’s jobs.” Heritage Minister James Moore taunted, “It’d be nice for once if the NDP leader could put the country ahead of his own ambition.” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, meanwhile, went for the trifecta, accusing Mulcair of “bad mouthing Canada,” “trash talking Canada,” and “running down . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: Of Petrostates and Patriotism

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Tim Harper reminds us why Brad Wall is thoroughly off base in claiming that it’s the duty of every Canadian politician to demonstrate constant fealty to his resource-sector puppet-masters:

The Conservatives, of course, would like the entire country to come together behind their view of resource extraction, but the nice thing about democracy is it accommodates dissonant voices.

Keystone faces credible and determined opposition in both countries.

There is a longstanding protocol in the U.S. that politicians do not criticize the government while abroad, but if that ever was the convention in Canada, it flew out the window after Harper took aim at successive Liberal leaders while representing this country abroad during his minority years.

Mulcair owes Canadians consistency. Without that, he cannot ask them to make him prime minister.
…
If U.S. President Barack Obama eventually kills the Keystone extension in a decision expected this summer, expect the Conservatives to blame Mulcair for “talking down” Canada while abroad, just as they tried to blame then-opposition leader Michael Ignatieff’s comments for costing them a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2010.

The UN blame-game generally drew laughter. Blaming an opposition leader who carried a consistent message south of the border for a Keystone failure should similarly be met with guffaws.

- Meanwhile, Clare Demerse tries to fact-check the Cons’ attempt at greenwashing their atrocious track record – only to conclude that there are few facts to be found in their spin.

- Don Lenihan writes about the problem with a pay-wall model for online media – as many people seeking to read news online have rightly come to value the ability to respond and comment without others being excluded.

- Emma Burnell highlights the importance of “critical loyalty” in ensuring that political parties can build close connections while still evolving and growing. I’m pretty sure this isn’t what she has in mind, but from my own set of loyalties I’ll happily ask someone to pass the popcorn.

- Finally, Pat Atkinson and Scott Stelmaschuk both offer their end-of-campaign analysis at the end of the Saskatchewan NDP’s leadership race.

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Tim Harper reminds us why Brad Wall is thoroughly off base in claiming that it’s the duty of every Canadian politician to demonstrate constant fealty to his resource-sector puppet-masters: The Conservatives, of course, would like the entire country to come together behind their view of resource extraction, but the nice thing about democracy is it accommodates dissonant voices.

Keystone faces credible and determined opposition in both countries.

There is a longstanding protocol in the U.S. that politicians do not criticize the government while abroad, but if that ever was the convention in it flew out the window after Harper took aim at successive Liberal leaders while representing this country abroad during his minority years.

Mulcair owes Canadians consistency. Without that, he cannot ask them to make him prime minister.…If U.S. President Barack Obama eventually kills the Keystone extension in a . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

By: Hannah McKinnon | Published by Environmental Defence on March 2, 2013: When the State Department in the U.S. released a draft environmental impact assessment of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on Friday, reaction across the continent was fast and furious. Here are a few key things that you need to know about this report. 1. The missing climate READ MORE

previous-research.jpg

In the hyper-polarized context of Canadian energy policy debates, even suggesting that there might be a downside to the untrammeled energy boom centred in northern Alberta is enough to get you labelled a traitor or an economic illiterate — or both. Conservative political leaders in both Ottawa and Edmonton, backed by energy-friendly think-tanks and the Sun media chain, have tried to paint such thinking as idiotic and dangerous, not deserving of serious consideration. This is a distinctly McCarthyist strategy: it relies on vilifying and marginalizing opposition, rather than debating facts and arguments.

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By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | March 2, 2013: Environmentalists have soundly condemned the U.S. State Department’s Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) report on TransCanada Corp’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The report, released Friday, concluded that the proposed 875-mile long pipeline, which would ship up to 830,000 barrels of Canada‘s dirty tar sands oil per day from Alberta to refineries on the READ MORE

Download: earthgauge-podcast-feb28-2013-final.mp3

This week on Earthgauge, we hear speeches and interviews from the huge ‘Forward on Climate‘ rally in Washington D.C. on February 17. We have speeches by Van Jones of Rebuild the Dream, Bill McKibben of 350.org, Michael Brune, executive director of the U.S. Sierra Club, and Jacquie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation in B.C., and interviews from the rally with Michael Brune and Canadian author/ activist Naomi Klein. We also have our weekly update from Kathy of Ecology Ottawa on local environmental events and campaigns in the area.

Click the audio player above to stream the show or right click here to download.

Forward on Climate!

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to cover the huge Forward on Climate rally organized by 350.org, the Sierra Club, the Hip Hop Caucus among others. Roughly 40-50,000 people gathered on Washington’s national mall to urge . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: EG Radio February 28 2013: ‘Forward on Climate’ special with Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Naomi Klein, Michael Brune and Jacquie Thomas

I attended the huge Forward on Climate rally in Washington D.C. last week and tomorrow I’ll be playing speeches from the rally by Van Jones of Rebuild the Dream, Bill McKibben of 350.org, Michael Brune, executive director of the U.S. Sierra Club, and Jacquie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation in B.C.

We’ll also hear my interviews with Michael Brune and author/ activist Naomi Klein. Things are heating up these days and it ain’t just the weather!

Earthgauge Radio airs every Thursday morning at 7:00 AM on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa and around the world at www.ckcufm.com. Earthgauge is Ottawa’s only radio program dedicated exclusively to environmental news and commentary from Ottawa, across the country and around the world. Podcasts on iTunes and right here on earthgauge.ca.

. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Tomorrow on EG Radio: our ‘Forward on Climate’ special show!

Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources Tim McMillan has seen fit to respond to last week’s column on Keystone XL and its connection to climate policy. But it’s well worth noting that McMillan’s argument looks to fall short on a few fronts.

Let’s start with the fact that McMillan doesn’t even pretend to refute my concerns that his government has done absolutely nothing on climate change over a period of years. (Which hardly serves to address the genuine concern from the Obama administration that the Canadian voices lobbying for Keystone XL have no interest whatsoever in meaningful climate change policy.

Instead, McMillan focuses largely on repeating what I pointed to as a wild claim about the impact of Keystone XL – only unlike Wall, he helpfully offers the weasel words “up to” in saying that a pipeline might add $300 million per year to the province’s coffers.

Which is probably . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: The Education of Tim McMillan

Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources Tim McMillan has seen fit to respond to last week’s column on Keystone XL and its connection to climate policy. But it’s well worth noting that McMillan’s argument looks to fall short on a few fronts.Let’s …

Dear President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry:

As a concerned Canadian, I am writing to urge you to reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline for purposes of transporting dirty oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries in the United States.

I assure you that not all Canadians are quite as eager to export climate-busting bitumen as our federal government seems to be. Many of us recognize that the high energy demands required to exploit this unconventional resource give it a dangerously large carbon footprint. For this reason, we consistently oppose similar projects, such as pipelines to the Canadian West Coast by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan.

According to estimates of greenhouse gas trajectories needed to avert runaway climate change, global emissions need to be peaking right about now (if not earlier). That means that we as a planet need to start drastically decreasing our use . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to Barack Obama and John Kerry

By Pembina Institute (Press Release) | Feb. 25, 2013: EDMONTON — As Canada faces increasing scrutiny of its weak climate change policy for oilsands development, a new report illustrates how both Alberta and the federal government can better manage emissions and improve the country’s international reputation. The new Pembina Institute report, Carbon Pricing Approaches in Oil and READ MORE

February 25, 2013

The Line 9 pipeline was built to carry oil from Montreal, Quebec to Sarnia, Ontario. But now Enbridge wants to reverse the flow and run ta…

In Canada, the environment dies while the press stands by. By Dugan Nichols | Adbusters | Feb. 20, 2013: Thanks to a hyperactive press, the energy baron agenda continues unabated. It’s a dangerous endgame indeed. You’ve heard the buzzwords involved – Enbridge, tar sands, Keystone XL – but maybe only as a jumble, a sick constellation READ MORE

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Andrew Nikiforuk discusses how Alberta and other petro-states have ended up destroying their treasuries and their democratic systems alike by relying excessively on volatile resource prices:

Thanks to the volatile nature of the world’s most lucrative commodity, various petro states find themselves short of cash. And that’s because most petro states don’t know how to budget let alone govern.

Like any plantation economy, petro states operate pretty much like irrational monocultures: they know how pump oil, sell oil, talk oil and spend oil. But they don’t know how to save or diversify its slippery wealth.
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In addition to honesty gaps the size of tar sands mining pits, Alberta, like many petro states, has a dismal tax problem. The province’s one party state draws, on average, 30 percent of its revenue from oil and gas projects. For more than 40 years Alberta’s Tories have ruinously used these same petro dollars to distort, undermine and degrade a proper taxation system as well as enrich its cronies.

This explains why Alberta Treasury can still advertise Alberta as a fantasy honey pot with “low personal and corporate income taxes, the lowest fuel taxes among provinces, no capital tax, no payroll tax, no health premiums, and no sales tax” while the province chocks up one deficit after another and Redford cries bitumen bubble tears.

U.S. political scientist Michael Ross attributes such behavior to the pernicious “taxation effect” of oil: “When government derive sufficient revenues from the sale of oil, they are likely to tax their populations less heavily or not at all, and the public in turn will be less likely to demand accountability from — and representation in — their government.” 

- Sarah Jordison suggests a simple strategy to deal with dumbed-down politics and politicians – which I’d supplement only by suggesting that it’s equally important to highlight the exceptions to the current rule:

Responding to political spin with our own savvily crafted sound bite isn’t enough.  In fact it encourages the perception that if problems don’t have a simple solution they can’t be solved so it’s best to just not think about it.

If we’re going to succeed in building a better world with a government that is actually responsive to the needs of our people, a critical piece of our work must be to create a public appetite for deeper public policy discussions based in fact and not ideology.

This may seem like an insurmountable task, but really it starts by including a simple question when talking to the press or a gathering or even your friends and neighbours:

Does their simplistic spin really ring true with you?

- Dean Beeby neatly contrasts the Cons’ bluster about openness against the entirely justified conclusion that they’re getting more secretive and less responsive by the year:

The Harper government is dismissing a report that ranks it 55th in the world for upholding freedom of information, saying it has a sterling record for openness.

But a four-page document outlining the federal rebuttal took five months to release after a request under the Access to Information Act — underscoring the very delay problem that contributed to Canada’s dismal ranking.

A human-rights group based in Halifax has issued three report cards since 2011 on Canada’s anemic standing in the world with regard to so-called right-to-know legislation.

The Centre for Law and Democracy used a 61-point tool to measure Canada’s legislation against that of other countries, in co-operation with Madrid-based Access Info Europe.

Canada’s standing in September 2011 was 40th of 89 countries, fell to 51st in June last year, then to 55th of 93 countries last September, behind Mongolia and Colombia.

 - Finally, Bruce Campion-Smith finds that Pamela Wallin is included on the list of Con senators who have declared their residence to be in Ontario despite having been appointed as a representative of another province. And the more the Cons make clear that they don’t see the Constitution Act, 1867 as being worth the paper it’s written on when it comes to defining the required qualifications for senators, the more skeptical we should be of any claim that we’re stuck with every other aspect of an elitist anachronism.

Photo: Alkan de Beaumont Chaglar/Flickr

Budget time is approaching in Nova Scotia, as elsewhere. Not just any budget time, but that special variety that precedes an election (this fall, I’d guess). You can usually tell by the tension in the media/political complex. The government is preparing for the buckets of vitriol that will fall on its head when it announces that it can’t balance the budget this year as promised, and there’s a howl over a $27-million accounting error in last year’s budget.

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