{"id":250037,"date":"2021-07-23T16:56:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T16:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environmentaldefence.ca\/?p=30562"},"modified":"2021-07-23T16:56:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T16:56:46","slug":"3-5-million-and-2-years-to-serve-up-a-farcical-attack-on-canadians-rights-to-protect-the-environment-and-our-future-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/07\/23\/3-5-million-and-2-years-to-serve-up-a-farcical-attack-on-canadians-rights-to-protect-the-environment-and-our-future-2\/","title":{"rendered":"$3.5 million and 2 years to serve up a farcical attack on Canadians\u2019 rights to protect the environment and our future"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Soon Commissioner Steve Allan will submit to the Alberta government his final report of the \u201cThe Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns\u201d. We\u2019ve read the draft – and our review of it shows that it promises to be a continuation of the gong show that has been underway for two years. It will rightfully be seen by almost everyone as a political stunt, and should normally be ignored as such, if only its content and intended purpose were not such a threat to public debate in Canada.<\/p>\n

In late June, Environmental Defence (along with many other environmental organizations, foundations and individuals) received formal notice that the Inquiry\u2019s report would likely include \u201cfindings that may be made in respect to our organization and of the evidence upon which those potential findings may be based.\u201d Finally, on July 1st, we were given an opportunity to view these potential findings and the purported evidence through a special \u201cData Room\u201d and told that we could respond to these findings by July 16, 2021 – barely two working weeks in mid-summer at the end of a two year inquiry.<\/p>\n

No wrongdoing but guilty anyway<\/b><\/h2>\n

The formal notice from Commissioner Allan also stated: \u201cAs well, should I ultimately make a finding in respect of you, I will clearly declare that such a finding, if any, does not in any way suggest that the activities on which I might base a finding have been unlawful or dishonest, or that the conduct on which I might base a finding should in any way be impugned.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Shifting Mandate<\/b><\/h2>\n

The notice also re-defines the mandate given to the Inquiry by the Alberta government to no longer focus on whether any of the publications, government submissions or statements of our organization or others were inaccurate or misleading. Instead, the Commissioner has created his own mandate to investigate only whether anyone said anything negative about oil sands development, regardless of the scientific, economic or social merit of these statements.<\/p>\n

So in other words, the commission is saying that all of Environmental Defence\u2019s activities to protect the climate and question oil sands impacts in Alberta are legal and honest. But that did not stop him from writing a draft report that tries to lead a reader to conclude the opposite.<\/p>\n

Misleading \u201cEvidence\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

And so armed with his new self-created mandate the Commissioner has crafted a draft document consisting of screen grabs of our website, google searches and our Canada Revenue Agency filings. It takes this selectively-chosen information and spins a narrative about our organization being \u201cAnti-Alberta energy\u201d that is devoid of context, balance or analysis, and in many cases misleads the reader to reach conclusions not supported by the material presented.<\/p>\n

You can read our response to their draft report here<\/a> to get a full picture of their findings about Environmental Defence and our responses to it.<\/p>\n

An alarming use of government powers<\/b><\/h2>\n

We should care about this fiasco for several reasons:<\/p>\n