Feds spent nearly $54,000 on pro-oil lobbying retreat over two days in London, England

OTTAWA-The federal goverment spent at least $53,563.23 on a two-day retreat last February in London, England that was organized to train its European diplomats to lobby on behalf of oil and gas companies against climate change legislation under consideration in Europe’s Parliament.

The figures were released by three federal departments in response to questions raised by Postmedia News last week.

The bulk of the spending went through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which sent more than a dozen Canadian diplomats from 13 different European offices and four senior officials from Ottawa to the gathering on Feb. 1 and 2, 2011 at a cost of $22,691.43.

The department also awarded an untendered $14,859.50 contract to an Ottawa-based consultant who delivered a workshop on lobbying techniques. The presentation on “how to do advocacy: what is the issue in Europe, how to address criticism and emotions?” was delivered on the second day of the meeting by Joanne Lemmex from JL Strategies Inc., a consulting firm.

Natural Resources Canada also confirmed that it sent two senior department officials to the retreat as well as discussions in Brussels that week at a cost of $9,111.65 and $4,119.08, respectively. Environment Canada said that it sent one official to the retreat who reported $2,782.57 in travel and hospitality costs.

The government has estimated that there are about 25 people on its lobbying team, who don’t necessarily work full time on the issue. The government said it is pushing this marketing and lobbying campaign, in partnership with the Alberta government and the oil and gas industry, because the oilsands are a “proven strategic resource for Canada (that is) key to Canada’s economic prosperity and energy security.”

It is not clear how doing marketing for the oilsands abroad would help improve energy security within Canada.

In a summary of the gathering released through access to information legislation, a diplomat from Canada’s high commission in London, wrote that participants felt that environmental concerns about the impacts of oilsands development could be addressed if the Canadian government rolled out actual policies to regulate pollution from the industry.

The summary also noted that several companies attended the gathering, Shell, Statoil, Total, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, attended the meeting. The companies indicated that conservation groups were playing an important role in pushing them to improve their environmental performance, according to the internal correspondence.

Original Article
Source: canada.com 
Author: Mike De Souza