Foreign radicals are after the oil sands
An excellent summary of the Koch brothers interest in the Alberta tar sands (and undoubted influence)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/gerald-caplan/harper-is-right-foreign-radicals-are-after-the-oil-sands/article2444373/page1/
"Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have courageously chosen to expose and confront foreign interests that have surreptitiously been infiltrating the Canadian oil industry – and they don’t mean their Chinese Communist partners." ...
"the Kochs are equally at home in the Alberta oil patch, as has now been comprehensively brought to light by InsideClimate News, an America-based non-profit organization dedicated to a clean environment. But their very long, impressively documented report cannot for a moment be dismissed as the biased work of tree huggers. Titled “Koch Brothers’ Activism Protects their 50-year Stake in Canadian Heavy Oils,” it carefully details their “long and deep investments in the tar sands,” investments that have been “central to the company’s initial growth and subsequent diversification since 1959.” Researching every conceivable source to uncover the holdings of this once ultra-secret family, the story lists Koch Industries interests in Canada:
» The company is one of Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters, with more than 130 crude oil customers.
» It is among the largest U.S. refiners of oil sands crude, responsible for about 25 percent of imports.
» It is one of the largest holders of mineral leases in Alberta, where most of Canada's tar sands deposits are located.
» It has its name attached to hundreds of well sites across Alberta tracked by Canadian regulators.
» It owns pipelines in Minnesota and Wisconsin that import western Canadian crude to U.S. refineries and also distribute finished products to customers.
» It owns and operates a 675,000 barrel oil terminal in Hardisty, Alberta, a major tar sands export hub.
»And this year it kicked off a 10,000 barrel-a-day mining project in Alberta that could be the seed of a much larger project.
The report also notes the Kochs’ political activities in Canada, based on Canadian news sources. Last year the Edmonton Journal reported that Koch Industries had hired a Calgary lobbyist with good local Conservative connections to lobby the provincial government on its behalf.
Then last month, the Vancouver Observer reported the Kochs were contributors to the Fraser Institute, a self-declared charity that some see as an unabashed political advocacy group for unregulated private enterprise and a zealous foe of environmental regulation. Its former chief executive, Michael Walker, confirmed to the Observer that the brothers had contributed $500,000 to the Fraser Institute between 2007 and 2010 for undefined “international work.”"
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With 71% of the oil sands foreign owned, thank god Harper is doing something to protect Canadian economic sovereignty, legacy and environment for future generations.....
...oh...wait.....
Ottawa raises foreign takeover review level to $1-billion
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/ottawa-raises-foreign-takeover-review-level-to-1-billion/article2443470/
"Ottawa is lifting the minimum threshold for reviewing foreign takeovers to $1-billion, but it remains mum on a promise to clarify how it decides if investments are good for the country.
Under new rules unveiled Friday by Industry Minister Christian Paradis, the minimum value that will trigger a review will be raised to $1-billion over the next four years, up from the current floor of $330-million."
FFS Stephen, just hand the damned country over to the global 1% right this moment and be done with it.
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