- Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau often come across as political birds of a feather.
It's no surprise that the University of Alberta has come under fire for planning to award an honorary degree to famed environmentalist David Suzuki.
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After all, its campuses are in what is still the most right-wing province in Canada.
It's given birth to the political careers of Stephen Harper, Preston Manning, Jason Kenney, Ted Morton, and, good God, Rob Anders—the only parliamentarian to vote against awarding honorary Canadian citizenship to Nelson Mandela.
Lawyer and polemicist Ezra Levant first became famous in Alberta. The Byfields ran their publishing operation from Alberta, giving a platform to Ken Whyte, the first but not the last right-wing editor of the National Post.
And the University of Calgary has been home to several of Canada's most conservative academics, including Barry Cooper, who's been linked to the climate-change-denial movement, and Rainer Knopff, whose been slamming the Supreme Court of Canada for years.
Alberta-based writers such as Kevin Taft and Andrew Nikiforuk have chronicled the grip that the Alberta oil industry has had on that province's political culture.
It's reflected in the daily newspapers. It's also demonstrated in Premier Rachel Notley's steadfast support for pipelines and expanding production of diluted bitumen.
Today, Notley said that she disagrees with the University of Alberta's decision to give the honorary degree to Suzuki.
It's another sign of how out of touch Alberta is sometimes with the rest of Canada, who voted Suzuki as the fifth-greatest Canadian of all time in a CBC poll.
After all, its campuses are in what is still the most right-wing province in Canada.
It's given birth to the political careers of Stephen Harper, Preston Manning, Jason Kenney, Ted Morton, and, good God, Rob Anders—the only parliamentarian to vote against awarding honorary Canadian citizenship to Nelson Mandela.
Lawyer and polemicist Ezra Levant first became famous in Alberta. The Byfields ran their publishing operation from Alberta, giving a platform to Ken Whyte, the first but not the last right-wing editor of the National Post.
And the University of Calgary has been home to several of Canada's most conservative academics, including Barry Cooper, who's been linked to the climate-change-denial movement, and Rainer Knopff, whose been slamming the Supreme Court of Canada for years.
Alberta-based writers such as Kevin Taft and Andrew Nikiforuk have chronicled the grip that the Alberta oil industry has had on that province's political culture.
It's reflected in the daily newspapers. It's also demonstrated in Premier Rachel Notley's steadfast support for pipelines and expanding production of diluted bitumen.
Today, Notley said that she disagrees with the University of Alberta's decision to give the honorary degree to Suzuki.
It's another sign of how out of touch Alberta is sometimes with the rest of Canada, who voted Suzuki as the fifth-greatest Canadian of all time in a CBC poll.
An NDP premier opposes giving an honorary degree to David Suzuki. Imagine that.
Notley says she won't meddle in the university's move but the message is clear.
The most powerful person in Alberta—who ultimately controls the provincial public purse—clearly disapproves of a publicly financed university recognizing the achievements of the greatest science educator in the country's history.
And she calls herself a New Democrat?
From my vantage point in B.C., it's clear that her allegiances really lie with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal cabinet.
They both support a dishonourable National Energy Board pipeline-approval process, which didn't take upstream or downstream greenhouse gas emissions into account when giving the green light to Kinder Morgan's plan (subject to conditions).
https://www.straight.com/news/1066196/suzuki-comment-rachel-notley-may-w...
You just said Alberta is the mlost right wing proovince in Canada that's given birth to some of the most right wing politicians and pundits in Canada and now Notley has disagreed with the University of Alberta's decision to give the honorary degree to Suzuki making her on par with her Consevative/Reformer peers. Yet somehow she's a Liberal.
Yeah,OK.
Notley is the perfect Liberal fit.
I have to agree with Alan Smithee here. After a long rant associating Notley's ideas with dyed-in-the-wool conservatives, you say the Liberals are the prefect fit.
In fact that should be 'the Conservatives are the perfect fit'.
Liberals are expected to respond the way you and alan just have, up until the time she actually joins the Liberals, then of course you will be supporting her.
This saying one thing, but doing another, par for the course Liberal behaviour, definitely does not not good for the Trudeau Liberals!
Jagmeet Singh pens letter to Trudeau urging prime minister to release secret records on Kinder Morgan review
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his parliamentary leader, NDP MP Guy Caron, have fired off a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging him to release all of the government's secret cabinet records related to its review of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
The letter, dated April 25, 2018, is largely based on revelations uncovered by National Observer, which found that public servants from five different departments were instructed by a high-ranking official to find a "legally-sound" way for Trudeau's cabinet to approve the west coast pipeline expansion project. These instructions were given to public servants during an internal meeting on Oct. 27, 2016, National Observer reported, coming at the same time that the government was publicly stating that it had not yet made a decision and was continuing to engage with affected First Nations about the pipeline.
"These revelations throw into question the legitimacy of the government’s entire review as they point to an approval based on political interests, the lobbying of a Texas-based oil company and has nothing to do with the national interest, as you claim," Singh and Caron wrote in the jointly-signed letter. "To address these serious concerns, we urge you to release all relevant documentation associated with the review process including those subject to cabinet confidentiality."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his parliamentary leader Guy Caron arrive at a news conference in Ottawa on April 25, 2018. La Presse Canadienne reporter Mylène Crête awaits their arrival. Photo by Alex Tétreault
NDP says investigation provides 'troubling evidence'
The NDP is asking Trudeau to release all records generated between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 1, 2016 that were compiled by the different federal departments that were involved in the review of the Trans Mountain project. Singh later said at a news conference that the NDP would also ask a parliamentary committee to call Erin O'Gorman, a former associate deputy minister who had a lead role in the government's review, to testify about what she did. Public servants who attended the Oct. 27 meeting allege that O'Gorman was the one who instructed them to find a way to approve the Trans Mountain project.
"The most recent investigation by... National Observer, published Tuesday, April 24, provides troubling evidence that a senior official of your administration ordered public servants from multiple departments to find arguments to approve the Kinder Morgan project well before the evaluation process was completed," the letter said.
"These revelations come one week after we learned that your government sped up the process to approve Kinder Morgan’s project after being lobbied by the Texas company and months after we learned that your administration received memos from public servants saying that the consultation with Indigenous communities were 'paternalistic.'"
The NDP letter said that all of these revelations run counter to what a real nation-to-nation relationship should look like.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/04/25/news/jagmeet-singh-pens-lett...
dp
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-singh-accuses-liberals-of-rigging-trans-mountain-review-process/
I think Jagmeet Singh just introduced himself to Canadians
https://www.google.ca/amp/torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/parkin-jagmeet-singh-still-needs-to-introduce-himself-to-canadians/amp
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/04/25/kinder-morgan-approval-process-rigged-feds-must-fork-over-documents-singh/
It's tough to keep the faith when he has to keep so much under wraps for the election campaign. It's great to see he and Caron still seem close. This is the perfect issue for him to get vocal on.
Trudeau and the Liberals are getting muddy faster than I imagined. This is huge. It could end the pipeline.
It looks like inertia will kill it. And Liberals are experts at that.
One of the reasons:
https://www.desmog.ca/2018/04/25/real-reason-canada-crisis-over-kinder-morgan-pipeline
https://globalnews.ca/news/4168452/b-c-government-kinder-morgan-reference-case/
http://www.news1130.com/2018/04/24/alberta-premier-kinder-morgan-talks/
In other words zero progress. KM wants out. If Ottawa and Alberta are offering funds it isn't enough.
That's pretty funny. I been spending weeks ripping her apart. I wouldn't vote for her. You just believe that because you're a clown.
BTW,NR...Could you PLEASE stop changing the names of your threads? It makes it hard to track posts and it's irritating.
The political anthropolgists at the Straight wrote...
Today, Notley said that she disagrees with the University of Alberta's decision to give the honorary degree to Suzuki.
It's another sign of how out of touch Alberta is sometimes with the rest of Canada, who voted Suzuki as the fifth-greatest Canadian of all time in a CBC poll.
Don Cherry was only two places behind Suzuki in that on-line, free-for-all "vote". Does the Straight think he should get a commensurate quantity of reverence from Canadians?
Not saying Suzuki(or anyone else on that list) doesn't deserve respect, just that "How on earth can anyone diss the #5 choice on the Greatest Canadian Poll" is a pretty weak argument.
As for how much reverence Canadians really do hold for Suzuki, that's open to some debate. Trudeau was quoted as refering to Suzuki's views as "sanctimonious crap" during the 2015 campaign. Certainly didn't stop him from cruising to a majority.
Alberta-based writers such as Kevin Taft and Andrew Nikiforuk have chronicled the grip that the Alberta oil industry has had on that province's political culture.
It's reflected in the daily newspapers. It's also demonstrated in Premier Rachel Notley's steadfast support for pipelines and expanding production of diluted bitumen.
re: the daily papers, I'm pretty sure the Globe And Mail supports pipelines as well. And I'd be very surprised to hear that any of the Sun properties across the country are opposed.
Suing for Peace from Trudeau’s Nuclear Threats on Trans Mountain
https://www.straight.com/news/1066356/martyn-brown-suing-peace-trudeaus-nuclear-threats-trans-mountain
Are the Trudeau Liberals feeling threatened by BC’s pending court action?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/article-mckenna-extends-olive-branch-to-bc-in-trans-mountain-fight/
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/04/26/BC-Needs-Toolbox-Stop-Kinder-Morgan/
dp
That's not an olive branch because it begins with the assumption that the pipeline is being built. It does not allow for a finding that it is too dangerous.
Refinery explosion in Wisconsin
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/wisconsin-refinery-explosion-today-2018-04-26/
BC has now submitted their reference case
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-submits-court-reference-case-to-regulate-oil-flow-from-trans-mountain-pipeline
So, I guess this is an argument Albertans could use against building more refineries in Alberta, because one of them might explode? Faulty logic, for sure, but I'm otherwise straining to see the relevance of this article.
Dangerous work.
I wonder how this will effect the price of fuel in their catchment area.
http://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/the-latest-5-hurt-in-...
Obviously Singh has scored with his accusations against the Liberals, as their attack dogs in the mainstream press have wasted no time trying to discredit him once again.
This really smells!
https://twitter.com/GuyCaronNPD/status/989572484549750784
B.C. government asking courts to rule on new permitting system to restrict bitumen flow
The B.C. government is asking the B.C. Court of Appeal to determine whether it can pass legislation that would require companies to get permits from the provincial government before increasing the flow of bitumen through the province.
If the appellate court approves, the new provincial rules would derail the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4169798/bc-reference-case-trans-mountain/
Pipeline protesters to occupy federal justice minister’s office Thursday
Further protests expected in Burnaby this weekend
http://www.burnabynow.com/news/pipeline-protesters-to-occupy-federal-jus...
Keep up the pressure!
Well, the news is leaking in bits and drabs.
TRUD'OH!
https://grist.org/briefly/justin-trudeau-is-under-scrutiny-over-allegati...
Justin Trudeau’s Texas-size pipeline crisis
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/04/26/justin...
Wouldn't they do the same if he were wrong?
I don't know, one way or the other, and I don't have some specific horse in that race.
But does the fact that we all seem to laugh at "flat earth" proponents mean they're actually RIGHT? Or just that they're stupid?
If you suggest that I'm addicted to meth, and I reply by saying "no, I'm totally not addicted to meth", does that mean I'm in denial and addicted to meth? Or else what would I say differently if (as is the case) I've never even SEEN meth, nevermind using it or being addicted to it?
Can you see what I'm saying here?
Of course I see what you are saying Magoo.
But let's also live in the real world where the big powerful moneyed interests largely control society though their tight control of the mainstream press, and other such things. You can call it what you will, but I call it government corruption, when the government is accused of doing something, and where there is documentation involved, and they (the Trudeau Liberals) refuse to produce it.
It's still exactly the same logical problem. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that you're right about "the MSM", but how are we to tell the difference between these omnipotent agents claiming the sky is blue (when it isn't) because they're liars who can get away with it, and them claiming the sky is blue because it's actually blue?
Logically, you need some reasonable way to differentiate between them lying and them simply being right. And sadly, saying "but they're LIARS!!" (or, "they lied that other time!" or "if they were going to lie, this is exactly the lie they would tell!!") is not that.
It doesn't matter one iota what colour the documents are. All the Liberals have to do is produce the documents.
If you've already decided what's true and not true, what need is there of these documents?
Or, conversely, if you're as much as admitting that you don't have all the information you feel you need, why should you or the media feel you already know what went down, with or without the information that you suggest is crucial?
And let's not forget that you seem to demand that Trudeau prove a negative. What, specifically, could he say that would make you post at babble to say "I guess I misjudged him"? Seriously. What could he possibly say? How could he prove to your satisfaction that he was never "colluding"?
And I'm not suggesting that if you have no answer then that's proof that he WASN'T. I'm not going to claim that. But can we be logical here, or is this all "too important for that"?
No surprise Trudeau regime oily...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-liberal-co-chair-ad...
No wonder Kinder Morgan pipeline is popular, with a little, I mean with very big help for the Liberals, from their media friends.
But bubbles are not endowed with immortality. They are, as a matter of physics, designed to fail. And the job of journalists is not to be popular, or go along to get along, but to pursue facts that matter – then let them fall ‘without fear or favour’.
Which brings us to Canada’s bitumen bubble, and missing-in-action media coverage, which amounts to malpractice.
In the days following Kinder Morgan’s ultimatum that it would jettison its planned Trans Mountain oil pipeline and forsake Canada unless it gains a clear and certain path to final approvals by May 31, a collective wail of lamentations ensued from oil companies, the pipeline manufacturers, the Alberta premier and Opposition leader, the Prime Minister and his senior cabinet members, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and major banks. This is natural and fitting, and so is media coverage of their collective fury and resolve to avert that ultimatum. It is a big story. It needs to be covered.
However, it is not the media’s job to assume that opinions without evidence are equal in worth to opinions which are fact-based. Or to assume that the scale and decibel level coming from oilsands advocates is proof of their cause. A noise meter is not evidence. Or to assume that the voices of opposition should be discounted as, at best, merely emotional and at worst, severely irrational.
In a recent three-part series of investigative reports published by The Energy Mix, I laid out an evidence-based argument that there is no credible business case to support an expansion of oil sand exports or the proposed Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipelines. That Alberta’s bitumen bubble is about to burst, due to multiple global forces far beyond its control.
Media malpractice and the bitumen bubble
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/04/26/opinion/media-malpractice-an...
https://globalnews.ca/news/4170430/ndp-greens-support-poll/
https://www.google.ca/amp/vancouversun.com/business/local-business/kinder-morgans-7-4-billion-trans-mountain-oil-pipeline-expansion-what-we-know-so-far/amp
https://thetyee.ca/News/2018/04/27/BC-Asks-Courts-For-Authority-To-Block-Pipeline-Expansion/
http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/vaughn-palmer-tankers-aside-b-c-s-environmental-tool-box-to-be-tested-in-court
Quite the reconciliation process
https://nowtoronto.com/news/trans-mountain-trudeau-first-nations/
How many have been arrested now?
https://www.straight.com/news/1067226/religious-leaders-plan-weekend-blockade-kinder-morgan-gates-burnaby
What is Trudeau hiding now?
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/04/27/news/kinder-morgan-warns-significant-delay-after-court-urged-consider-release-trudeau
The Liberals must be feeling quite threatened that they will lose the court case if they feel they have to communicate with the BC Government through the media
https://www.straight.com/news/1067171/federal-environment-minister-catherine-mckenna-writes-open-letter-bc-counterpart-george
Sure looks like this issue is beginning to perculate, and good on the Singh-led NDP to lead the charge to expose what appears to be serious corruption within our federal government. Show us the money, or the documents, eh!
B.C. First Nation says feds may have approved Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion before finishing consultations
The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is preparing to ask court for release of federal Trans Mountain pipeline documents
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trans-mountain-pipeline-first-nation-con...
Gotta hand it to these hundreds of protesters giving up part of their precious weekends going out in the pouring rain risking the possibility of getting arrested with criminal charges laid against them A lot of these people probably voted for Trudeau which must doubly frustrate them to see that he conned them and that he is just another Big Oil Rep
http://www.news1130.com/2018/04/28/people-faiths-stand-kinder-morgan-block-gates-burnaby-facility/
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