Whistleblower: The Canadian Government is intimidating and threatening charities opposed to oilsands - Polidicks

Source - [url=http://www.globaltvbc.com/canada/affidavit+accuses+prime+ministers+office+of+threatening+environmental+charity/6442566233/story.html]Global BC[/url] [release]A former employee of an environmental group critical of a proposed oilsands pipeline says the Prime Minister's Office threatened a funding agency if it didn't pull its support for the group. A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper denies the allegations. [b]In a sworn affidavit released Tuesday to The Canadian Press, Andrew Frank says he was told by his supervisor at ForestEthics that a PMO official had referred to their organization as an [highlight]"enemy of the state."[/highlight] The affidavit describes how staff were told their jobs were at risk after the official told Tides Canada, which supports the work of ForestEthics, that the government would "take down" all of the agency's projects unless it cut ForestEthics loose.[/b] [b]Tides gets most of its money from private foundations and assists a wide array of social and environmental charities in Canada — from Big Brothers and Big Sisters to the World Wildlife Fund. It also partners with major corporations and governments, including federal government agencies.[/b] Frank says he was fired from his job as communications adviser at ForestEthics on Monday over his plans to go public. His affidavit details a series of conversations allegedly held in early January between ForestEthics and Tides staff. [b]He says ForestEthics employees were summoned to a meeting on Jan. 5 in which the group's supervisor, Pierre Iachetti, told them the CEO of Tides, Ross McMillan, had been given a period of time in which to stop contributions to ForestEthics or the government would "take down" all of Tides's charitable projects. ForestEthics has been behind efforts to encourage U.S. companies to avoid using oilsands-derived fuel in their transportation fleets. A total of 14 companies and one city have made commitments of varying strength.[/b] ForestEthics has also worked to get people to sign up to address a National Energy Board review currently underway into Enbridge Inc.'s proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline between Alberta and Kitimat, B.C. More than 4,000 people have asked to appear. Frank says Iachetti was attempting to find alternate funding sources to try to survive. "The assumption was that Mr. McMillan had already decided to dissolve ForestEthics's public work in criticizing the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway oil tanker and pipeline plan in order to save the rest of Tides's projects." The next day, Frank says, he heard the same story directly from Merran Smith, energy initiative director for Tides. [b]"She said that...someone at the PMO had described ForestEthics as 'an enemy of the government of Canada' and 'an enemy of the people of Canada' and had then made the threat that if ForestEthics was not dissolved or removed, Tides would meet an undesirable fate."[/b] Other ForestEthics management corroborated the story over the next few days, says Frank. He says he met directly with McMillan on Friday to inform him of his plans to go public with the information. He says McMillan did not deny the story, but compared Frank's plans to "setting off a bomb in your own house." "He and (vice-president Sarah) Goodman suggested there were better ways of fighting back." [b]Andrew MacDougall, spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, said none of the statements attributed to the government is accurate. "The Prime Minister's Office denies making any of the allegations or saying any of the things that are outlined in that statement," he said. [highlight]He would not comment when asked if either Tides Canada or ForestEthics had been targeted by the government.[/b][/highlight][/release] [i]Note: PMO = Office of the Prime Minister[/i] Glad to see the rhetoric our new government is pushing out. Disagree with them? You're branded an "enemy of the state".

Bring it on you corporate fucks.

Bonus article snippet in case you don't want to click it: [release]The Harper government has cut funding for critics before. In December 2010, the Canadian International Development Agency turned down a funding application by the relief organization Kairos. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney initially told an Israeli audience the group had been cut off due to its anti-Israel stance — an assertion Kairos said was patently untrue. International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda contradicted Kenney, saying the group simply no longer met the criteria for CIDA's foreign aid priorities. But an internal memo later surfaced, signed by Oda and CIDA's top two officials, indicating that the agency had actually recommended Kairos's application be approved. In an interview, Frank said he is motivated by concern over his civil rights. "I think Canadians need to know that behind the scenes, the Prime Minister's Office has apparently attempted to silence a legitimate voice and a critic of the proposed Enbridge oil tanker and pipeline project," he said. "At the very highest levels of this government, Canadians who have a legitimate concern about this oilsands pipeline are being called enemies of the government of Canada and enemies of the people of Canada. And that's the language of anti-terrorism. "When a government calls its own citizens enemies, you've lost your moral authority to govern." [/release]

USA v2?

Man, I just want to castrate harper, hes such a fucking douche. Too bad nobody but old people vote in our country...

Curious, does voting (for 'leader') actually matter there, unlike here in the States?

Fucking HAAAAAAARPER!

[QUOTE=dead.pixel;34408128]Curious, does voting (for 'leader') actually matter there, unlike here in the States?[/QUOTE] If you're asking whether or not the popular vote represents the ruling party, not always I don't think there has ever been a majority government that also had a majority of the popular vote but I may be wrong.

[QUOTE=dead.pixel;34408128]Curious, does voting (for 'leader') actually matter there, unlike here in the States?[/QUOTE] Worse actually, we cant really vote an independant prime minister in, its either NDP, Liberal, or conservative and they pick their own leader.

I just don't understand why it's a bad thing to be Anti-Israel now a days. If any other country had as big of a blockade as they have, we would fucking invade them.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34408156]If you're asking whether or not the popular vote represents the ruling party, not always I don't think there has ever been a majority government that also had a majority of the popular vote but I may be wrong.[/QUOTE] Hoorah for democracy!!!

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;34408169]Worse actually, we cant really vote an independant prime minister in, its either NDP, Liberal, or conservative and they pick their own leader.[/QUOTE] Well you need to also remember that the Prime Minister has nowhere near the power that the American president does. Harper rules over his party rather heavy-handedly but in the end he's really only one vote in the HoC. His heavy-handedness isn't all bad either, he's made a few conservatives who wanted to "reopen the debate" on gay marriage and abortion shut up.

Good, if we (as in Alberta) didn't have the oil sands, Canada would be screwed. Its good to have a clean world, but trying to keep it clean can ruin your life.

[QUOTE=BackSapper;34408267]Good, if we (as in Alberta) didn't have the oil sands, Canada would be screwed. Its good to have a clean world, but trying to keep it clean can ruin your life.[/QUOTE] So why did Canada exist before 1967 when oil sands production began? We're becoming a petrostate and the only result will be the death of Canada, not the saving of it. We need to start attracting high tech industry, manufacturing, and research

[QUOTE=BackSapper;34408267]Good, if we (as in Alberta) didn't have the oil sands, Canada would be screwed. Its good to have a clean world, but trying to keep it clean can ruin your life.[/QUOTE] Yeah, and trying to make it dirty will keep you rich.

It's ironic that so-called 'conservative' policies are a sure way to ruin future prospects instead of preserving the status quo.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34407894] Glad to see the rhetoric our new government is pushing out. Disagree with them? You're branded an "enemy of the state".[/QUOTE] How could you possibly disagree with [I]this[/I]? [IMG]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fAdSVHWcWZQ/STc9tWIMY8I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/ITgh4NQ6tQU/s400/stephen-harper-kitten.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE=BackSapper;34408267]Good, if we (as in Alberta) didn't have the oil sands, Canada would be screwed. Its good to have a clean world, but trying to keep it clean can ruin your life.[/QUOTE] We need to Invest in the masses of geothermal that could [URL="http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1118737--geothermal-heat-could-generate-more-electricity-says-ontario-inventor-ian-marnoch"]apparently power the country many times over,[/URL] keeping a flow of income by selling the surplus and clean energy.

[QUOTE=Sumap;34408969]How could you possibly disagree with [I]this[/I]? [IMG]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fAdSVHWcWZQ/STc9tWIMY8I/AAAAAAAAA-Y/ITgh4NQ6tQU/s400/stephen-harper-kitten.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] I wish the kitten was PM

God fucking dammit Harper, is there anything we can do other than just sit here and complain? Because this is ridiculous.

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;34408003]Man, I just want to castrate harper, hes such a fucking douche. Too bad nobody but old people vote in our country...[/QUOTE] I'm 19 and I voted for him. Hell, the Liberals would bankrupt us and the NDP is way to worker focused.

[QUOTE=The golden;34424684]I would rather our PM be focused on the workforce of Canada than on foreign corporations.[/QUOTE] Well when the rep for my district says that we need to reduce taxes and increase all the healthcare and welfare spending, I don't think they are all there.

[QUOTE=Gundevil;34425082]Well when the rep for my district says that we need to reduce taxes and increase all the healthcare and welfare spending, I don't think they are all there.[/QUOTE] I think you got your left and right mixed up...

Well they are enemies of the state.

[QUOTE=Haxxer;34407979]USA v2?[/QUOTE] One of us! One of us!

Pulling out of Kyoto was already a figurative go-fuck-yourself to environmental groups, might as well explicitly work to fuck them over

Ahahaaaa, you fuckers the pipeline was denied, try again you corporate fucks.

[QUOTE=ewitwins;34425915]Ahahaaaa, you fuckers the pipeline was denied, try again you corporate fucks.[/QUOTE] Source?

[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;34425781]Pulling out of Kyoto was already a figurative go-fuck-yourself to environmental groups, might as well explicitly work to fuck them over[/QUOTE] The Kyoto fuck-you came years ago when we failed to meet any targets.

[QUOTE=Zenreon117;34425126]I think you got your left and right mixed up...[/QUOTE] No the NDP was saying that. We need to decrease taxes but increase spending in Healthcare and Welfare. Never mentioned lowering anything other then taxes. Some people don't get you need to pay taxes if you want the government to do shit.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;34408588]So why did Canada exist before 1967 when oil sands production began? We're becoming a petrostate and the only result will be the death of Canada, not the saving of it. We need to start attracting high tech industry, manufacturing, and research[/QUOTE] Petrochemicals are a fact of life that's not going to go away. They're a fundamental part of almost any "high tech" industry and are a component in every manufacturing process in existence. You seriously can't just say "LOLOIL, what a backwards technology and corporate scheme"