Message #544

[ScotlandYard]

Keep it to yourself
Obama may not want our oil, but let?s not sabotage ourselves
 

Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his refusal to approve Keystone XL, a pipeline that would bring almost a million barrels a day of Canadian ethical oil to the U.S. to replace Venezuelan conflict oil.

That`s Obama?s idea of promoting America`s interests. He`s dead wrong. But what crosses the border into the U.S. is his business. He made his choice.

Our choice has to be to putting Canada`s interests first. We should do everything we can to press Obama to approve Keystone XL. But we?ve got to work on Plan B: Finding other markets for our oil.

Which is why the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline is such an obvious answer.

That pipeline would go from the oilsands to the B.C. coast, where it would fill up tanker ships from places such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India and China. Together, those countries are a far larger market for oil than the U.S.

It would sell about 550,000 barrels a day. That`s about $22 billion a year.

It would be a win for Canada. And a win for the communities in B.C. ravaged by anti-logging extremists who killed their lumber industry. International lobby groups such as Greenpeace, along with billionaire foundations from the U.S., drove thousands of British Columbians out of work, and destroyed dozens of towns that depended on forestry.

This pipeline would help rebuild that damage, through construction and operating jobs and through tax revenues and benefits for Indian bands along the route.

Last week, Elmer Derrick, a hereditary chief of the Gitxcan Indian band in B.C., announced he`d come to an agreement with Enbridge for the pipeline.

Well, the foreign lobby groups who hate the oilsands blew their stack. Here was an Indian daring to side with the oil companies! How dare he!

Immediately these foreign lobbyists swung into action. Some claimed Derrick wasn`t a real chief, or that he couldn`t speak for the band ?? even though he is the band`s official treaty negotiator.

This isn`t a debate amongst Canadians. It`s a war between foreign interests and Canada itself. Earlier this year, when EthicalOil.org, the NGO I`m involved with, ran TV ads comparing how Canada treats women to how Saudi Arabia does, the Saudi embassy threatened me with a lawsuit.

It?s not just OPEC dictatorships. It`s left-wing billionaire playboys in the U.S., too. The U.S. Tides Foundation has funneled millions of dollars to 36 different anti-oilsands groups in Western Canada. Canadians might think there`s a wave of anti-oilsands feeling in Canada. But all 36 are cashing cheques from the same U.S. puppet master.

A handful of big U.S. foundations have given $190 million to undermine Western Canadian resource development over the past decade,  including $10 million to David Suzuki`s foundation. According to research by Vivian Krause, in 2008 Tides` Canadian affiliate paid two Indian bands $27.3 million specifically to oppose the Northern Gateway pipeline. It`s working.

Shame on those chiefs for taking U.S. money to oppose Canada`s national interests and the economic interests of their own people. So much for self-government: Some B.C. bands are selling out their people for cash.This cannot stand.

Keystone XL was stopped by Obama. He`s a fool, but it`s his decision. The Northern Gateway pipeline is a completely Canadian matter. It`s about our national interests. And it`s time our government and any self-respecting Aboriginal leader  blew the whistle on foreign interference.http://www.edmontonsun.com/2011/12/05/keep-it-to-yourself

Soros driven I suspect