"Extraordinry Rant" By Canadian Resource Min. Claims "Foreign Radicals" Behind Tar Sands Opposition

[hatrack]

EDIT

The diatribe, which came as an open letter from the natural resources minister Joe Oliver, caused a furore in Canada.

It was seen as a sign of the conservative government's frustration at growing opposition to its efforts to find global markets for its vast reserves of tar sands crude, a type of petroleum deposit found in large quantities in Canada.

Opponents of the project object to over-turning a decades-old moratorium on oil tanker traffic on the British Columbia coastline, running a pipeline through British Columbia's northern wilderness, and sending jobs out of the country.

But in his open letter, Oliver accused opponents of controversial pipeline projects of destroying Canada's economy in pursuit of their "radical ideological agenda" by blocking the government's efforts to find new markets for tar sands crude. "Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams," Oliver wrote.

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/09/oil-sands-battle-canada

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. they're dangerous radical idiologues,

as long as their not 'industry funded radicals ideologues', supported by the Harper government.

From the Toronto Sun, Sept 22 2011:

“Most Canadians would be shocked if they learn the truth about our lack of energy security,” said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. “About 60% of the oil used in Ontario and the eastern provinces doesn't actually come from places like Alberta, it comes from places like Saudi Arabia, Libya and Venezuela.”