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2012: The Year of Energy Politics

Written by Damien Gillis - Friday, 21 December 2012
2012 was a year that began with Conservative Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver dismissing opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines as "radicals" and ends with the Idle No More rallies sweeping the nation. It was a year when two very different visions for the future of Canada and its place in the world collided headlong with each other. One seeking to curb the Tar Sands and new arteries essential to its growth, the other striving to make Canada into a new Saudi Arabia - provider of oil, gas and coal to emerging Asian markets. Each policy piece from the Harper Government was part of a bigger puzzle, designed to bring this new vision to fruition.

Canadians are seeing red this week after a series of announcements reinforce concerns about the loss of Canadian resources and sovereignty. The focus has been the Alberta Tar Sands, but natural gas plays are also in the mix. Four days after Stephen Harper boldly stated that the CNOOC/Nexen and Petronas/Progress takeovers marked the "end of a trend and not the beginning of one," one of Canada's largest oil and gas companies announced a joint venture in a 4-plus billion dollar gas play in which PetroChina will have a 49.9 percent stake.

Damien Gillis appeared recently on Nanaimo's CHLY Radio to discuss a number of key political and energy issues in Canada. Gillis and host Rae Kornberger of 'A Sense of Justice' cover the controversial proposed Canada-China trade deal and how that relates to energy and environmental issues in BC particularly. Included amongst these is natural gas fracking in northeast BC and the enormous volumes of fresh water required for these operations.

We have been overwhelmed with your support for the Common Sense Canadian's effort to prevent the ratification of FIPA and want to extend our thanks to the many readers who have participated so far. Since November 1, we have been reporting about the significant FIPA Environmental Assessment (EA) process not yet completed. Our reports have detailed how the FIPA Environmental Assessment offers us a clear path for an effective action to prevent ratification. Now, we ask for your support in one more effective action which clarifies the need for a new EA process and the halting of the immediate ratification of FIPA.

In recent weeks, numerous campaigns have been launched to take on the Canada-China trade deal known as FIPA - most involving online petitions. Yet there is an official avenue for public opposition that has been largely missed and presents a clear path to delaying or even preventing FIPA. The Conservative government must pass an Order in Council in order to facilitate ratification. This is done at the cabinet table. If you act now and submit your feedback outlining the grave concerns and serious shortcomings in the FIPA Environmental Assessment process, which is still active and open, we may be able to convince cabinet to delay the Order in Council until the pivotal Environmental Assessment is properly undertaken and completed. Learn how here.

The final Environmental Assessment report for the controversial Canada-China FIPA trade deal has not been completed AND there is still time for input from Canadians! We urge our readers to share their concerns about the process and inform the Government of Canada about the significant environmental impacts of FIPA. Learn more about the FIPA EA and how to submit your comments by the November 11 deadline here.

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