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Following up on yesterday’s Photoshop post, let’s salute one of the most eminently parody-worthy moments of the Cons’ spring: namely, Joe Oliver’s pitch to get Canadians drinking water from oil sands tailings ponds. Joe Oliver pitches Conservative Sludge George Monbiot offers a fascinating insight in the wake of last week’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro. While rightly deriding the declaration adopted by world leaders for containing little more than meaningless fluff, he notes an evolution in diplomatic language regarding the environment over the years from “sustainability” to “sustainable development” to “sustainable growth” to, most recently, “sustained growth.” This seems as good a time as any to launch into a topic dear to every environmentalist’s heart: the growth debate. Intuitively, it does not make much sense to suppose that infinite economic growth . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: On Growth and Its Limits
The other day I posted a link to a remarkable video showing Dr. Chris Keefer interrupting Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s announcement at Toronto General hospital to protest Bill C-31, the legislation that will deny to those claiming refugee-status life saving drugs. Bernie Farber has written a piece in The Huffington Post lauding the doctor’s courage and integrity as he further explores the implications of this legislation. Recommend this Post It’s amazing how a cabinet minister can go to pieces when confronted with a little informed dissent. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Joe Oliver: Minister, Conservative MP, sulky child. Thanks to NH for the tip! University Health Network CEO Bob Bells tried to apologize after a doctor and a medical student interrupted a press conference by Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver at the Toronto General Hospital yesterday. Is this really Dr. Bell’s role? The … Continue reading → There’s been plenty of debate about the protest which caused Joe Oliver to move a funding announcement. But I’d think there’s a more fundamental question we should ask about the event, particularly when the indignant response of the event host was to the effect that “this is an important announcement!”. To wit: how exactly is it important for the Cons to be able to dictate that a public venue serve as a resistance-free backdrop for their PR efforts? To be clear, there may be circumstances where the announcement of a policy may have a significant effect on its implementation. . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: On importance I hope this video renews your faith in people as it has mine: Dr. Chris Keefer interrupts Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver: Recommend this Post Former Etobocoke-Centre Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj has won headlines for his legal challenge to force a by-election due to election irregularities, and it appears another former Liberal MP, Joe Volpe, may be considering following suit. Wrzesnewskyj won an Ontario Superior Court ruling ordering a new election in the riding after irregularities that put the narrow victory of Conservative Ted Opitz in doubt. The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear Opitz’s appeal in a rare summer sitting next month, but I’m told his appeal has raised little in the way of new arguments or specific faults with the . . . → Read More: A BCer in Toronto: Will Joe Volpe follow in Borys Wrzesnewskyj’s footsteps in Eglington-Lawrence? In Stephen Harper’s Canada, we’re all potential terror threats. Until proven otherwise. So suggests a recent study by Queens University’s Jeffrey Monaghan and Kevin Walby, published in the journal Policing and Society. Welcome to Multi Issue Extremism (MIE), Canada’s new classification of so-called domestic terror threats. We saw it coming. In a January letter, Joe Oliver, the Minister of Natural Resources, labeled environmental movements “radical groups” funded by “foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest.” Oliver believes these groups are also pursuing “their radical ideological agenda”. And their goal is “to stop any major . . . → Read More: CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Harper’s Canada “Making Up Terror Identities” 
 Activism, anti-capitalism, anti-terrorism, Canada, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Conservatives, Counter-terrorism Strategy, crime, csis, enemies of the state, Environmentalism, Extremism, Feature, Government, HARPER V. CANADA, HUNGER STRIKE, Islamist extremism, issue-based extremism, Jeffrey Monaghan, Joe Oliver, Kevin Walby, MIE, Movements, Multi Issue Extremism, national security, opinion., Ottawa Police Services, police state, Policing and Society, propaganda, Public Safety, radical groups, rights, Safe Streets and Communities Act, Society, stephen harper, Terrorism, Vernon White, Vic Toews Courageous and talented Canadian artist Franke James, whose 2011 European art tour was cancelled after interference from the Harper government, has recently published an illustrated essay on the current overlap of oil and state (with a large dose of anti-science, anti-democratic polemic) in Canadian politics. You can find Franke’s essay, What is Harper Afraid Of?, [...] By Franke James Here is the animated video version of What Is Harper Afraid Of? See the cartoon from last week.
Enjoy the video and watch Franke James artfully connect the dots. What is Harper Afraid Of? from Franke James on Vimeo. After you’ve watched this remember that there are real “radicals” involving themselves in Canada’s politics and they are not any of the environmental charities that the Harper government is spending $8 million dollars of Canadian taxpayers money to harass. Go over to the Globe and Mail and read about how Charles and David Koch (founders and funders of the fear and rage driven Tea Party) are enriching themselves on Canada’s resources and spending huge amounts of money to influence (Read more…) My conversation with artist Franke James, a unique and exciting voice in Canadian environmentalism who creates Visual Essays that are informative, spirited and fun! She combines playful and somewhat cheeky artwork with her photographs, well researched science to present her point of view in a series of Visual Essays that are notable for their surprising optimism. For Franke environmental activism begins at home where she advocates ‘doing the hard thing first.’ This for her included giving up her SUV in Toronto, all newsprint, fighting City Hall to make her driveway a green space, searching for sustainable clothing and (Read more…) Whew. I see Tom Mulcair managed to gallop into Alberta today, cast his eyes upon the darkness of the Oil Sands, and make his getaway without dropping the dreaded T word. In his first-ever visit to the Alberta oilsands as NDP leader, Mulcair was about to substitute “tar” for “oil” when he hastily corrected himself. “They’re bitumen sands because the chemicals are neither oil nor tar,” he said at a news conference hours after being taken on a tour of the mine and tailings pond reclamation process by Suncor Energy of its site in northern Alberta. And without giving By Franke James
read more I don’t actually doubt Joe Oliver’s sincerity in claiming that as far as he’s concerned, people will soon be able to drink from tar-sands tailing ponds. But I do suspect that mostly has to do with the Cons’ pathetic idea of water safety, rather than any reasonable belief that Canadians are eager to take a big gulp of this:
Whooee! Well, friends an’ foes, I posted up another song an’ video on YouTube. It pretty much speaks for itself. Have a look-see: It was a very lengthy and defensive statement delivered by Joe Oliver yesterday, read it here: “Statement by the Honourable Joe Oliver, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources, in Response to an Advertising Campaign by Some Environmental Groups.” It was made in response to a campaign launched yesterday at blackoutspeakout.ca where 11 environmental groups are banding together. Go check it out. June 4th is their day of action. There was other heat on the government yesterday. There was this Globe editorial ripping the Conservatives on their bashing of environmental groups: “The only nefarious thing . . . → Read More: Impolitical: Oliver on the defensive Well, let's put it this way eh? It wasn't exactly democracy's finest hour. First the Cons rolled their Trojan horse budget, packed to the rafters with non-budget stuff that will gut our environmental laws, into the House of Commons. Then when the opposition demanded the bill be split up so it can be properly studied, James Moore, fresh from mutilating the CBC, replied by twisting stretching strangling the truth. Read more » Whooee! Well, friends an’ foes, I done it again. Here’s a new song all about Steve Harper set to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song. The Ballad of Steve Harper Come and listen to my story ’bout a man named SteveSneaky politician, dirty tricks up his sleeveThe oil companies needed a man on the inside,So they bought a buncha votes and gave Ol’ Steve a ride(To Ottawa, that is. Parliament Hill.) Well the first thing you know old Steve’s the PMThe oil boys are happy ’cause he’s workin’ just for themEnvironmental (Read more…) After Ethical Oil is done with its proxy Zombie Joe McCarthy crusade against the David Suzuki Foundation (what, are Ezra & co. gonna put out a hit on Raffi next?), perhaps it might consider lobbying the feds to take a look at another clear example of untoward abuse of our noble charitable sector — and an obvious case of insidious foreign interference to boot (eeek!) The Vancouver Observer: As the Conservative assault continues against Canadian environmental charities, the Vancouver Observer has learned that since 2007, foreign oil billionaires the Koch brothers have donated over half a million . . . → Read More: bastard.logic: Pushing Weight During the 2012 federal budget, the Conservative government allocated $8 million to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to crackdown on charities engaged in “political activities.” The purge has begun. Yesterday, the right-wing Big Oil lobby group, EthicalOil.org, dispatched a 44-page … Continue reading →
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver — yes, the one who labelled environmentalists foreign-backed radicals — announced a major overhaul today in how environmental assessments will be conducted in Canada. Not surprisingly, the government is limiting the ability of environmental groups to take part in public hearings, shortening the length of reviews, and generally streamlining the process. Put another way, public and regulatory oversight of resource development is being slashed. What I find most interesting, however, is that Oliver seems to be trying to take the federal government out of the environmental assessment game. With the exception of “major economic projects” . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: Oliver’s Twist: So Long Federal Environmental Oversight SNC-Lavalin is in the news today in a big way: “RCMP raids SNC-Lavalin’s Montreal headquarters.” Thought I would raise an angle on this that might be overlooked. Recall the Government of Canada’s rationale for selling off Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s commercial reactor division to said SNC Lavalin: The Government of Canada has reached an agreement with SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. under which the Canadian engineering firm will acquire the CANDU Reactor Division of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). Under the terms of the agreement, SNC-Lavalin, through its wholly owned subsidiary CANDU Energy, will take over the . . . → Read More: Impolitical: SNC-Lavalin in the news, an overlooked angle The Globe: Canada’s most famous environmentalist, David Suzuki, says he left the board of his charitable foundation to avoid being a lightning rod for criticism and government attacks that would undermine its work. Still, Peter Robinson, who is the head of the David Suzuki Foundation, said the group is facing a “chill” that is leading it to pull back from important environmental debates lest it be accused by the federal government of exceeding its charitable mandate. Is Suzuki a new, very high-profile casualty in the asymmetrical Harpercon war on non-profit environmental advocacy orgs? Not so fast: In fact, . . . → Read More: bastard.logic: On That Zombie Suzuki Resignation Story |
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