[All] Harper, Nigel Wright, Bruce Carson, EPIC and Line 9

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks

Today I saw this article showing how PM Harper, former advisor Bruce Carson, Nigel Wright and the Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC) are linked. http://rabble.ca/columnists/2014/05/new-revelations-show-harpers-warm-embrace-big-oil-lobby#.U35j1P0E72w.twitter

This evening I get this email from Forest Ethics showing how all this was linked directly to the narrowing of participants at the Line 9 hearings. EPIC crafted the wording used by the NEB to negate public participation. 

Check it out below. 

Lulu 

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Your Investment at Work: News Update for ForestEthics Advocacy’s Donors.
Dear Louisette, 

Did you catch the news about Bruce Carson? The former top adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper was charged last week by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with illegal lobbying and influence peddling. The RCMP alleges Carson used his political connections to lobby on behalf of the Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC), a non-profit whose members include Enbridge, TransCanada, Suncor and all the other big industry players.

In fact, as the Globe and Mail writes: "Mr. Carson's network was so valued at EPIC that one of his colleagues dubbed him the "secret sauce" in the organization's ability to sell its pro-business agenda to the government."1

Yup, that's right. The "secret sauce."

Well the secret's now out but it comes as no surprise. We've been connecting the dots between industry and government for a while now. Last year, our "Who Writes the Rules?" report highlighted some very telling evidence that recommendations from EPIC were found—sometimes word-for-word—in the National Energy Board's (NEB) new rules that limit public participation in oil pipeline project hearings.

Take, for example, the new NEB rule stating that in order to comment on a project you must be "directly affected" by the granting or refusing of that project's application. Not only was this an EPIC recommendation—it's right there in their own report—but it has been very narrowly defined to exclude as many people as possible from pipeline hearings. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

That's why we're challenging the new rules in two separate legal challengesconcerning the Enbridge Line 9b, and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline proposals. We believe these rules violate Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedom. Clayton Ruby, our lawyer in the Enbridge case, will likely deliver oral arguments in the Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto in the next few months. The Kinder Morgan legal challenge just got underway.

The revolving door that exists between the Harper Conservatives and the oil industry is not just wrong—it's illegal. We now have serious allegations that criminal acts have taken place and with our legal challenges and organizing work, we are hitting back hard and exposing the truth.

Your support of our work makes this possible and we are truly grateful.

Sincerely,




Ben West
ForestEthics Advocacy
Tar Sands Campaign Director
@BenWest


PS. Want to know more about the links between government and the oil industry? Check out our "Who Writes the Rules?" report.



1Globe and Mail: “Former Harper Advisor Bruce Carson Facing New Charges”, Monday, May 12, 2014
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