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Letter: Be wary of foreign meddling in pipeline protests

Editor,

Editor,

March 3, 2018 a Financial Post columnist, Claudia Cattaneo, wrote a column quoting the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology report into the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and its use of social and traditional media to influence both the U.S. election and U.S. energy markets. Her column indicates the results point without a doubt to St. Petersburg, with the approval of the Russian government.

The work of the IRA indicated Russia was against the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. and wanted this pipeline shut down. Russia wanted Canada to keep its oil in the ground.

They were also against the Trans Mountain pipeline to the Pacific Ocean from Alberta. Russia did not want the competition of Canada who has the world’s third-largest oil reserves, trading in the international oil markets. The Kremlin was using Cold War strategies attempting to make “useful idiots” of unwitting environmental groups and activist to further its energy ambitions. The same U.S. government probe uncovered that Russia-sponsored agents funded environmental organizations to further their plan to keep Canada’s oil in the ground.

One of these organizations is the Tides Foundation which funds environmental campaigns in Canada. Tides is against the Keystone XL pipeline to the United States, the Trans Mountain expansion as well as the LNG line to Prince Rupert. Their tactics include playing on First Nations fears and the fear of an oil spill in Georgia Strait. They have been successful in delaying these pipeline projects at the expense of Canada’s economy.

March 13, 2018 a special letter to the Financial Post from Joe Oliver former federal Minister of Finance and Natural Resources states we have reached a crisis resulting from the unrelenting opposition to pipeline construction abetted by foreign funding. His estimate, as a former finance minister, is that our little country is losing approximately $15 billion a year in revenues from these delays.

He describes foreign radicals as sabotaging our economy. My thought is with only 50 per cent of this annual loss I think our federal government could solve at least half of the First Nations demands, pay out a lot for infrastructure upgrades, improve our medical care, education system, etcetera. Things that go toward making a better, happier society. His fears are that the pipeline companies, because of these delays, may just walk away and cancel these projects.

In 2010 the National Post wrote a long investigative report on one group in particular, Tides Foundation. They are an organization that receives funds from all over the world from countries that sympathize with their goals.

They listed a large number of NGOs who have received funding from the group to carry on disruptive operations against what they perceive to be the enemy.

Tides is very active in B.C. and recently held an organization meeting on Cortes Island.

I think its time for our government to wake-up and check these people out. They obviously do not have Canada’s best interests in mind.

Jack Randle