Gore accuses big oil of bankrolling Tories

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=c6671bd6-570c-4e6b-8752-bc9fcf57c12e&k=27679

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has accused the oil industry of financially backing the Tories and their "ultra-conservative leader" to protect its stake in Alberta's lucrative oilsands.

Canadians, Gore said, should vigilantly keep watch over prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord -- an international agreement to combat climate change.

"The election in Canada was partly about the tar sands projects in Alberta," Gore said Wednesday while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

"And the financial interests behind the tar sands project poured a lot of money and support behind an ultra-conservative leader in order to win the election . . . and to protect their interests."

[Botany]

1. My President

and always will be.

[arikara]

Lying Harper isn't going to like that

especially when Al is re-instated as president!

[rodeodance]

2. hey al--keep talking.

[AuntiBush]

29. Really--Don't Stop-Not Know

Anyone out here with Satellite TV? Look for the Current network.

:thumbsup:

[PDJane]

3. Yep,

and he's right. They tried with the NRA and the Focus on the Family folks too, but didn't get the kind of response they were looking for (they started in Toronto, one of the most inclusive cities on the planet, for crying out loud).

It is about the oil, and it's about an ideological statement........and yes, the US has been buying media up too, just to push the agenda.

So far, Canadians are resisting. If there were a proportionate vote, the NPD, Libs and Greens would be forming the government.

[Swede]

5. Harper sez he'll act quickly on the same sex legislation.

Didn't take him long,did it?


http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Article&cid=1138315819123&call_pageid=968332188492

[PDJane]

6. The man's an idiot.

That's an almost sure way to get himself tied up in both the courts and in parliament. Jesus H. on a pogo stick.

[AX10]

14. How short will his government be?

[Swede]

16. If he treads lightly he may last two years.

If he insists on paying back his rightwingers it's less than that. Joe Clark was a Conservative Prime Minister that tried to push a conservative budget through while in a minority situation. He lasted 9 months.

[AX10]

22. You know what I'd like to see....

the CON government fall this fall (no pun intended), and the Canadian elections coincide with
the US mid-term elections on November 7th. The Libs and NDP win the government back with a majority and the Democrats retake both houses of the US Congress along with the state houses.
That would be beautiful.

[Spazito]

37. Historically, no Conservative minority governments have lasted

longer than a year as listed below:

177 days duration 1957 - 1958 - John G. Diefenbaker (Conservative)

186 days duration 1979 - 1979 - Charles Joseph Clark (Conservative)

203 days duration 1962 - 1963 - John G. Diefenbaker (Conservative)

207 days duration 1925 -1926 - W.L. Mackenzie King (Liberal)

All above are less than a year in office with a minority government

Those that have lasted longer than a year are as follows:

498 days duration 2004 - 2005 - Paul Martin (Liberal)

535 days duration 1972 -1974 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Liberal)

854 days duration 1963 - 1965 - Lester B. Pearson (Liberal)

866 days duration 1965 -1968 - Lester B. Pearson (Liberal)

1329 days duration 1922 - 1925 - W.L. Mackenzie King (Liberal)

Links to info used:

Duration of Minority Governments 1867 to date

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/info/parl-dates.asp?lang=E&srt=DESC¶m=MIN&query=ASC

Prime Ministers of Canada Since Confederation

http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/8/11/r11-302-e.html

I believe Harper will not break the Conservatives track record historically and his government will not last past a year at most.

[AX10]

45. Good Luck Spazito!

I wish you another Liberal Government by Christmas!

[Spazito]

47. Thanks, AX10, we need all the good wishes offered for sure!

Lets hope history repeats itself in this instance!

[Lisa]

17. stand by for more really ugly phone calls from south of the border

I was talking to the office staff of the Liberal ex-cabinet minister in my riding. They got some awful, vicious calls and letters when the same-sex legislation came up ... almost all of them from the US.

[Ediacara]

38. So... he wants a new election in February?

Just can't wait to break Kim Campbells "shortest term as PM ever" record?

[leesa]

44. Please don't be blase about these bastards. They stop and nothing

Rip them out of your government and your cities and schoolboards NOW. Do NOT let them take over your media.

[spindrifter]

4. Big oil is bank-rolling

the Brits, as well. Take a look at the QinetiQ situation involving our Carlyle buddies.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1695832,00.html

QinetiQ sell-off faces National Audit Office investigation

· Inquiry to check if earlier sale to US firm too cheap
· Firm warns it can't ensure safety of confidential data

Terry Macalister
Friday January 27, 2006

<snip>

The National Audit Office said last night it would look at a range of issues raised by the privatisation, including whether an earlier sale of a stake to the US-based Carlyle Group had been completed too cheaply.

<snip>

Certain American neocon investors are busy tipping security contracts to British firms, getting to buy into a British government-backed corporation at bargain-basement prices and making a king's ransom in profits in order to assure that their plans for the future can be secured.

[CHIMO]

7. Gore for President

Now there is someone that isn't afraid of fallout.

[StClone]

8. I knew this a while back, do Canadians?

This is a serious threat to their country. These bastards are relentless and are out to control and steal anything that isn't nailed down...well even if it is nailed down...nothing is safe.

[sarcasmo]

39. Watch out for your National Health care Canadians.

[u4ic]

40. Too late

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:



Alberta is proceeding with its Third Way health reforms with the approval of Conservative prime minister-elect Stephen Harper, Ralph Klein says.

The premier said his caucus unanimously approved his plan to introduce private health insurance yesterday and Harper has no objections.

"I advised him we will keep the lines of communication open and we will advise his minister of health ... of the situation," Klein said after a phone conversation with Harper.

"His reaction was that was fine."

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2006/01/27/1413974-sun.html

[Spazito]

41. Hmmm, this could get VERY interesting!

"He conceded that his government is looking at allowing doctors to practise in both the private health-care system and the public system - actions now prohibited by the Canada Health Act.

But if Alberta was accused of violating the Canada Health Act, the government could challenge it through the courts or through a dispute resolution process, he said."

If Harper, as it seems he is promising, won't enforce the Canada Health Act, he will be handing the opposition NDP and Liberals an excellent issue to confront the new and inexperienced Harper government while highlighting the extreme agenda Harper really has.

Me thinks Harper is showing his arrogance even earlier than I thought he would.

[AX10]

51. This is why the Liberals need to find a new and qualified leader..

ASAP. They should not wait until summer.

[wordpix2]

9. my pres, too but he needs to go to DC to convince senators to filibuster

if he wants to be pres, that is

[buddysmellgood]

10. I think Al knows way more than he can say. I'd love to hear what he

suspects.
If the price of oil is high enough, we'll have the money to process sand and rock and other shit for another 100 years. The oil won't run out, the environment will. We'll all be floating and wearing gas masks.

[Gloria]

11. Keep talking, AL!!

[mirandapriestly]

12. The Canadian election is really scary to me, but no one is talking

about it. A Canadian poster on DU said that Harper was backed by US conservatives as well. It scares me.

[Lisa]

13. I know that the Alberta oil industry is involved in BC politics, too

When particular issues came up in BC cabinet meetings, such as whether to allow oil/gas explorations on the coast, or whether to bring in climate change policies -- there would be some high-priced energy biz consultants from Alberta, telling the politicians what to do. They literally wouldn't make a move without phoning Calgary.

p.s. I am pleased and reassured that Gore is following this issue. He (unlike Bush) didn't have to be told about the Tar Sands. Oh, and our campaign finance reform didn't block contributions from big business. Money that plentiful always finds a way around, sooner or later. The Conservatives have always had a big war-chest (they aren't really "Tories" -- they absorbed the more moderate party and stole their name, exactly what happened to the BC Liberals).

[AX10]

15. Canada, you have been warned.

In the next election, vote for a Lib government or a Lib/NDP/Green government.
Harper is a power hungry fascist. I am concerned about what will happen to Canada.

[KoKo]

18. Cheney made a big trip up to Canada last year to view the "oil sands."

There wasn't much coverage about it...but enough that it was posted here from one of the big newspapers. Said he went there to look at the "oil sands" and meet with whoever was in charge in Alberta.

[wordpix2]

20. Cheney's checking out the action to see if Follyburden should take it over

[1932]

19. I was so disappointed in 60 Minutes last sunday. Than ran a story on the

tar sands that was practically a commercial for voting Tory.

A working class guy said he expected to make $125,000 a year if the tar sands were developed with US help.

[wordpix2]

21. "if the tar sands were developed with US help:" so predictable Cheney

would gove view the tar sands for his next investment venture with Hollowburden

[AX10]

23. Did the show make an implications that Canadians should vote Tory?

[1932]

26. Yeah. It said if the tar sands were developed, working class people would

get rich.

They were saying if they had a government oriented around oil like America's is, everyone would prosper.

[AX10]

27. 60 Minutes said that? WTF?

:wtf:?

Do you have a transcript and / or video link. Thanks.

[1932]

30. That was the subliminal message...

...that they hit home when they asked a working class oil worker what he thought he'd make if they developed the fields.

They also made it sound like the only way they could be developed is if Canada had good relations with America's oil companies (and oilman president).

90% of the Canadian population lives within twelve miles of the US border. I wonder how many watched that show.

[Canuckistanian]

33. "developed with US help"?

Excuse me, but the technology to separate oil from the tar sands is a Canadian invention.

We never needed "help".

[applegrove]

24. Why the Fraser Institute is for provincial rights. So that the feds

don't take the oil profits from the Americans. It is theirs afterall! All the oil in the world.

I hope Alberta wakes up to what life is like when Big Oil moves in.

[Lisa]

35. some Alberta ranchers have already seen this ...

There was a piece on the CBC, a couple of years ago, about how upset some cattlemen were with the provincial government, for letting oil companies take enormous amounts of fresh water. The companies admitted that there was technology available for recycling water, but it would cut into their profit margin.

If Alberta thinks that Ottawa is being colonialist and unfair, wait until they get a load of Halliburton and Co.!

I haven't met a single Albertan who wants to alter the provincial flag to include oil wells, interestingly enough. There are mountains and forests and wheat fields on that flag, so evidently the oil industry doesn't have a lock on Alberta's soul.

[AX10]

43. Canandians need to be vigilant. Keep a hawks eye on Harper.

Be prepared to take the government down at a notice moment.

[applegrove]

50. They will. Neocons are pedaling like Armstrong to keep the rift

between NDP & Liberals going. They've been trying to build that for years. They love to smash small "l" liberals into tribes.

As to the actual "tribes". They are going to be assimilated. (While the unreal tribes: gays, lefties, liberals, xtians, traditional immigrants, will be separated from each other.. unlike how democracy is supposed to work) Seems Canadians again are too honest. Neocon American "thinker"in Alberta has been writing for years on the need to take reserve land from natives and assimilate.. just as the north beginnings to become valuable (rocks & shit under the earth vs. than a traditional way of life - the rights to land and quality of that land and rights to sue if it is damaged and polluted, relationship with the environment and herds and pods.). Basically right up there with turning all public American land, lakes and National Parks into private property - the same desire. Seems some of that writing got out of the bag. Canadian aboriginal groups did a little reading over the last few months. Then they called pals in the U.S.A.

Oh - no! Hellllllllllllllllllllllllp!

http://www.liberal.ca/news_e.aspx?id=11355

"Mr. Flanagan is a part of “a small inner circle” that influences Mr. Harper and operates behind the scenes in the Conservative Party. Mr. Flanagan, who was born and raised in the United States, has spent most of his career arguing against the rights and self-government aspirations of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Mr. Flanagan has published numerous articles and a book entitled First Nations? Second Thoughts to support his proposition that Aboriginal peoples should be assimilated.

“All Aboriginal peoples need to be concerned that Mr. Flanagan is still in a position of great influence in the Conservative Party. Jim Prentice and other Conservatives have been telling Aboriginal people not to worry and that Mr. Flanagan is no longer in a position of power. This recent article demonstrates that those claims are untrue. Aboriginal peoples need to beware of what is lurking in the shadows of the Conservative Party,” said Hank Rowlinson, Co-President of the Liberal Party’s Aboriginal Peoples Commission.

Mr. Flanagan was the Co-chair of the movement that brought Harper back into federal politics, during the Stockwell Day leadership review in 2001. He later went on to be Harper’s Chief of Staff.”

In the last federal election, the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami collectively asked Mr. Harper to distance himself from the “antiquated, ill-informed, regressive and offensive writings of Mr. Flanagan in articles and books such as First Nations?, Second Thoughts.” Mr. Harper dismissed the question as solely "partisan" in nature and said that if he won he would be "a forgiving lot" towards First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples. Since that time, Mr. Harper has never publicly distanced himself from the positions and writing of his ally and mentor, Thomas Flanagan.

While Mr. Harper will not distance himself from a man who wants to assimilate Aboriginal peoples, the Conservative Party has distanced itself from the historic $5.1 billion agreement reached between Prime Minister Martin, all Premiers and Aboriginal leadership at the First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues held in Kelowna in November 2005.

... Snip"

Anyway - Sending your americans to Calgary Universities 30 years ago was a brilliant move. Now they have a "Calgary School" of neocon thought. Totally unrelated to anything going on in the USA.

[applegrove]

48. Cattlemen were really please when the very US cattlemen who

went to court to open up the border - then came north to buy up Alberta beef at rock bottom prices.

Seems Canadian cattlemen were playing "unfair" by admitting they actually had .00001% mad cow cases. The American way is much better. Just sush it up.

[AtomicKitten]

25. Keep talking Al and show the Dems what having a spine looks like.

AND FOR GOD'S SAKE RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008.

[AuntiBush]

28. This Explains Much about What Happened in Canada!

The one who should have been President, Al Gore :patriot:

Thank you for the FYI. We would know thanks to our faux-media political pundits.

[nashville_brook]

31. the difference btwn a statesman and a politician -- gore speaks for us...

with or without the benefit of office.

[applegrove]

32. How do the oil companies do it in the USA? Cause there are limits there.

Is it gas station by gas station? I know. They fund the churches. And pour money into community groups that promote the three wedges.

[Uncle Joe]

34. Al Gore more than rocks, he boulders!

:yourock: A statesman and world class citizen!

:patriot:

[Spazito]

36. Gore is RIGHT ON POINT!

Oil vampire cheney was up in Alberta visiting the tar sands last year, merely coincidence I am sure.

:sarcasm:

[Mabus]

42. "media concentration has taken a toll on democratic principles..

around the world, and Canada is no exception." It can't be said any plainer than that. Gore's right, controlling the medium means they control the messages.

Here is the paragraph the above quote came from, in context:

Gore believes the issue of the oilsands and the sway he contends the industry holds with Harper didn't garner news coverage during the election because "media concentration has taken a toll on democratic principles around the world, and Canada is no exception."

[evworldeditor]

46. Suncor's Mike Ashar at ASPO USA Peak Oil Conference

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=948

[BlueIris]

49. Holy shit. Nice work, Al.

Keep it up, President Gore. Work the advantage you have here. You can do it. I believe in you.