2013-06-21 Federal government planned ‘strong’ PR campaign to promote oil industry o.canada/2013/06/21/federal-government-planned-strong-pr-campaign-to-promote-oil-industry/ Federal government planned ‘strong’ PR campaign to promote oil industry A worker walks along a new pipeline at the Enbridge facility in the east of Edmonton.PHOTO: STUART GRADON, CALGARY HERALD Mike De Souza Published: June 21, 2013, 4:10 pm Updated: 7 hours ago OTTAWA — Days before announcing Canada would withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the federal government drafted plans for a “strong and coordinated” public relations campaign and major regulatory reforms to promote oil and pipeline industry expansion, say personal notes drafted by the top bureaucrat at Natural Resources Canada. The notes, included in an email that Deputy Minister Serge Dupont sent to himself on Dec. 8, 2011, provided highlights of the government’s strategy to “advance a strong and coordinated advocacy and communications plan, with early pre-positioning for legislative and other actions.” Dupont also wrote about offering “support” for the Northern Gateway project, a pipeline proposed by Alberta-based Enbridge, to allow the oilsands industry to expand exports to Asian countries through the British Columbia coast. “Developing access to growing Asia Pacific market for Canada’s energy resources, and in particular oil sands is an urgent matter of national interest,” he wrote in the email. “Proactive policy and program measures could support Northern Gateway and future pipeline projects to west coast.” The email, released through access to information legislation, came after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet decided to withdraw from the international legally binding treaty on climate change – a decision that was announced Dec. 12, 2012 by Environment Minister Peter Kent. Dupont wrote in the email, described by his department as a set of personal notes, that “pre-positioning” the government’s arguments was “necessary” to “frame” the public dialogue in advance of public hearings” on Jan. 10, 2012, for the Northern Gateway project. Following Dupont’s suggestions, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver then released a letter — prior to the start of the hearings — that accused environmental groups of supporting a “radical agenda” to “hijack” Canada’s regulatory system with funding from foreign special interests. Oliver’s January 2012 letter kicked off a process that overhauled Canada’s environmental laws, introduced in about 400 pages of legislation, that were adopted with limited debate in Parliament a few months later. Those changes cancelled about 3,000 environmental reviews of new projects including hundreds involving pipelines and fossil fuels, but Kent has said they improved environmental protection by allowing the federal government to focus its resources on reviewing projects with the greatest potential impacts. The legislation, granting some demands from oil and pipeline industry lobbyists, came along with a federal budget that cut millions of dollars of funding for scientific research examining environmental impacts of industrial activity on air, water and wildlife. The federal government has described the oilsands industry as the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in Canada that contribute to global warming, and its estimates suggest the industry would prevent the country from meeting a national target agreed to by Prime Minister Harper in international negotiations. It also estimates the sector represents about two per cent of the Canadian economy, including tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenues. Dupont wrote that the strategy should also underscore the government’s commitment to environmentally and socially responsible resource development, world-class safety standards, more efficient regulations and open dialogue and cooperation with Aboriginal communities. In recent months, the federal government has spent millions of dollars in advertising promoting Canada’s natural resources and its efforts to strengthen environmental protection. Dupont’s notes said additional pipeline capacity, including the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the gulf coast of Texas, would be needed by 2015 to 2018 to support the growth and sales of oil companies. “Keystone XL (is) still a key prospect and other projects put forward by industry to grow exports to (the) U.S., our main market,” Dupont wrote. “However, (the) corridor to (the) Asia Pacific (is) critical to sustain growth, broaden options for producers, and realize best prices.” Federal government officials have avoided making direct public statements in support of the Enbridge project to avoid interfering with the ongoing independent hearings and review process, but a spokeswoman for Natural Resources Canada said the notes from Dupont were consistent with the government’s goal of promoting both efficiency and environmental protection at the same time. “The word ‘support’ is consistent with creating a system that puts in place timely, efficient, and effective project reviews, while strengthening environmental protection, and enhancing consultations with Aboriginal Peoples,” wrote spokeswoman Jacinthe Perras in an email response to questions. Oliver’s office and the department were not immediately able to answer questions asking how the strategy had helped build support for oil industry expansion and pipelines. The British Columbia government announced earlier this month that it opposed the current proposal to build the Northern Gateway pipeline, and some industry advocates, including Conservative Sen. Richard Neufeld, a former B.C. energy minister, believe the project has little chance of proceeding. A decision by the U.S. government on the Keystone XL pipeline proposal has also been delayed, but other potential proposals are emerging for pipelines linking Alberta’s oilsands industry to markets and refineries in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers declined to comment about its assessment of the federal government’s strategy in the context of Dupont’s notes. “We have never seen these documents and we really cannot speak to the government’s documents,” wrote Geraldine Anderson, in response to an email from Postmedia News that sent the association a copy of Dupont’s email. View this document on Scribd Read more Articles from Mike De Souza Twitter.Com/Mikedesouza© COPYRIGHT - POSTMEDIA NEWS
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 04:01:05 +0000
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