"The (diplomatic) posts have offered briefings to targeted companies to counter misinformation, and in certain cases, to provide background to likely targets which have yet to be approached by ForestEthics," said the memo to Natural Resources Canada Deputy Minister Serge Dupont from Mark Corey, an assistant deputy minister. "The campaign has not produced many true converts, but the possibility looms out there, particularly if further pressure is applied."
The document didn't offer examples of "misinformation" from ForestEthics, a U.S.-based conservation group with Canadian offices that emerged from British Columbia campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s to protect old-growth forests. But the memo acknowledged numerous environmental concerns surrounding oilsands development in Alberta, including warnings that the industry's rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions could prevent Canada from meeting climate change commitments pledged by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at international negotiations on global warming.
"While the oil sands industry has made progress in reducing GHG emissions intensity, overall emissions are growing and this is inconsistent with our national GHG reduction commitment," said one attachment to the memo that summarized the findings of a 2010 panel of scientific experts convened by the Royal Society of Canada to assess the environmental impacts of oilsands development.
Sixteen major companies and one American city have made commitments to reduce the environmental footprint of transportation fuels in their operations in the context of the ForestEthics campaign to stop the growth of oilsands development. Chiquita, Avon, American Eagle Outfitters and Lush Cosmetics are among the more prominent corporate names listed on the environmental group's website.
The federal memo, released to Postmedia News through access to information legislation, said that Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade had "reached out to relevant company contacts to better gauge their intentions vis-a-vis the ForestEthics campaign" that targets the environmental and social impacts of exploiting the tar-like heavy oil found in northern Alberta.
"DFAIT missions have been engaging with Fortune 500 companies to provide oil sands facts and to counteract the Forest Ethics campaign," said the memo.
The memo, dated Jan 20, 2011, was prepared in advance of a conference call to be held the following day of a joint committee of oil and gas industry lobbyists and senior officials from the federal and Alberta governments. The committee has been co-ordinating communications and outreach material, drafted in part by the oil and gas industry, to lobby foreign governments on climate change policies that target the oilsands, previously-released records obtained by Postmedia News have revealed.
The newly-released memo also highlighted other warnings about impacts on natural ecosystems, including concerns that the reclamation of land in the oilsands region was "not keeping pace with land disturbance" and valid long-term concerns about contaminants affecting water and air quality in the region.
Alberta's natural bitumen deposits are believed to hold one of the largest reserves of oil in the world. But producers require significant amounts of water and energy to extract the heavy oil through surface mining or drilling deep underground.
The industry also represents about two per cent of Canada's economy and its companies produce significant tax revenues for government, as well as tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade was not immediately able to answer questions about the costs and expenses associated with their outreach efforts or the nature of their conversations and contact with the companies approached in the U.S.
But a spokesman for International Trade Minister Ed Fast, Rudy Husny, emailed Postmedia News a statement saying that the government was "proud" to promote the oilsands and would continue to do so.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, an industry lobby group that is part of the joint committee, said it continues to participate in regular meetings with federal and provincial representatives on oilsands issues and that it was not unusual for it to provide the governments with information based on its knowledge and expertise.
"Note that oil is Canada's largest export," said industry spokesman Travis Davies, referring to 2010 government statistics that estimated the value of crude oil exports at about $52 billion in that year, ahead of passenger car exports of about $38 billion. "As such, Canadian international trade representatives should engage with groups calling for a boycott of Canadian crude and with targeted companies both."
Aaron Sanger, an American lawyer who directs U.S. campaigns for ForestEthics, confirmed that companies listed on its website have been approached by Canadian government officials, but that they have responded consistently with calls for stronger regulation and enforcement — recommendations that were made also by bureaucrats in briefing notes prepared for Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver in May 2011.
"The companies are saying, 'Instead of trying to repress this problem, you should take positive action to address it by reducing the environmental and social impacts of producing and refining tarsands,'" said Sanger, who lives in Bellingham, Washington, the city that has associated itself with the ForestEthics clean energy campaign.
"Specifically in the United States, we (ForestEthics representatives) believe that until dramatic changes are made in the way that the tarsands operate both within Canada and within refineries in the United States, that the market for tarsands should not expand beyond its current level."
Forest Ethics is known for launching advocacy campaigns that target consumers and the marketplace to discourage them from buying from companies that the environmental group believes are engaged in practices that damage ecosystems.
One of their recent campaigns culminated with new Ontario government legislation protecting northern forests after a major company, Limited Brands, started moving away from contracts with Canadian companies pursuing unsustainable forestry practices to produce catalogues for well-known brands such as Victoria's Secret.
The Canadian chapter of ForestEthics also considered itself to be a target of the Harper government's plan, announced in the last federal budget, to crack down on environmental charities through a multimillion-dollar initiative giving the Canada Revenue Agency more resources and powers to audit organizations believed to be using their charitable status to engage in political activities.
ForestEthics in Canada split its operations into two different groups — one focused exclusively on advocacy — as a result of the government's budget.
Natural Resources Canada indicated that it consulted the other federal departments, including Foreign Affairs and the Privy Council Office, as well as the Alberta government and oil and gas industry lobbyists, before responding to the access to information request from Postmedia News. Several sections of the release have been withheld under various provisions of federal legislation that protects information considered to be advice to government, matters under consultation, third party information as well as revelations that could damage Canada's international relations.
Davies said the association is advised by the government on access to information releases, but was not consulted about this memo and would not have asked for any material to be withheld unless it has competitive implications for companies.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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