It also attempted to conceal a warning that emerged from the meeting about the importance of the oilsands industry in ongoing free trade discussions with Europe — the Comprehensive and Economic Free Trade Agreement talks.
"With CETA negotiations underway, a proper understanding of the oil sands is of growing importance to Canada's place in Europe," wrote Sushma Gera, a trade adviser at the Canadian High Commission in London, in a widely distributed email that summarized discussions at the retreat.
Foreign Affairs officials blacked out this portion of the email, released to Postmedia News through access to information legislation. But the reference to free trade was included in a separate version of the correspondence released by Natural Resources Canada, following a similar access to information request.
The heavily censored version of records from Foreign Affairs revealed other details about the February 2011 training session that included a $14,961.48 contract for an Ottawa-based consultant who delivered a presentation on "how to do advocacy" in Europe and "address criticism and emotions." But the Natural Resources Canada version of the email revealed that Foreign Affairs officials blacked out names of industry stakeholders, Shell, Statoil, Total, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which were invited by the government to participate in the retreat.
Canada's access to information laws require government departments and agencies to release all public records to Canadians who make an official request and pay a $5 fee. But federal officials were not immediately able to explain why the two departments did not release the same information about the two-day retreat.
The session brought together diplomats from 13 different European posts who are part of a lobbying team trying to stop climate change legislation in Europe that could discourage consumption of fuel derived from the oilsands and other sources that are estimated to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional sources of energy.
But participants at the meeting also agreed that the absence of government regulation was hurting Canada's reputation, while environmentalists were actually helping companies do more to green their operations.
"When asked whether NGO pressure (from environmental groups) has made any difference to their oil sands operations, the companies stressed that the intense public scrutiny has created improvements, a pressure to work collaboratively to create the best possible industry," wrote Gera in the email, sent on Feb. 22, 2011 to Canadian diplomats in Europe as well as senior bureaucrats in Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada.
The Foreign Affairs Department also attempted to hide calls from participants at the retreat for more "credible" information to support their lobbying efforts.
"It was stressed that events such as panels and roundtables with subject matter experts, especially credible third parties, can be a very effective means of getting out Canadian messaging," said a version of the email released by Natural Resources Canada to Gillian McEachern, deputy campaign director at Environmental Defence Canada.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade estimated travel costs of the retreat at $22,691.33. The department also indicated that it has 25 employees who work on its oilsands lobbying team, mostly at Canada's European missions and that four travelled from Ottawa for the retreat. NRCan spokesman Paul Duchesne confirmed that two senior officials from his department attended the meeting, along with other discussions in Belgium that week, at a cost of about $13,000. Environment Canada was not immediately able to provide details about its own participation.
When contacted Monday by Postmedia News, some of the companies involved in the discussions explained that they did not report the meeting on Canada's official lobbying registry since they were invited to the event by the Canadian government.
The Royal Bank of Scotland and Total were not immediately able to confirm details about their participation in the retreat, but a spokeswoman from Total agreed that the company supported working constructively with environmentalists.
"I can tell you that we believe environmental groups do indeed play a role in ensuring the responsible development of the oilsands, and we are keen to work with them directly to find constructive solutions to the challenges we face," said Elizabeth Cordeau-Chatelain, communications manager for Total E and P Canada.
A spokesman for Statoil in North America said it was in the oilsands to "learn, share and contribute," while a Shell Canada spokesman said it listens and works collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders.
CAPP spokesman Travis Davies also confirmed that Greg Stringham, a vice-president, attended the session following an invitation from the government. He also suggested that Postmedia News should write more about the lobbying efforts of environmental groups in Canada and abroad.
McEachern, Environmental Defence's deputy campaigner, said she found it "alarming" that Canadian taxpayer dollars were funding the industry's lobbying campaign in Europe, noting that the correspondence acknowledges that the government isn't cracking down enough on greenhouse gas pollution, or air and water pollution from the industry.
"These things are really what is causing the controversy in Europe," said McEachern. "If the federal government really wants to improve the industry's reputation or improve Canada's reputation in general, it should be acting to use the tools that it has to fix these real problems, rather than bankrolling a PR strategy on the backs of Canadian taxpayers."
She added that environmental groups attempt to lobby the government, when it agrees to meet with them, but that they don't get invited to meetings to map out strategy.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
No comments:
Post a Comment