More on Drilling for Oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

As noted recently, the Harper regime, in its bottomless contempt and disregard for the environment, recently opened up the possibility of drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, another unpleasant fact hidden deep within the arcana of Omnibus Bill C-38. Happily, this fact was brought to the public's attention by the Toronto Star, whose readers invariably offer some insights worth preserving and spreading through the blogosphere.

Here are two from today's edition:

Re: Drilling for oil without a clue, Editorial Aug. 6

Thanks for drawing our attention to yet another major concern about the current federal government’s budget bill: highlighting the potential for oil exploration in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and amendments to the Coasting Trade Act that give oil companies greater access to exploration.

An oil spill in the Gulf of St. Lawrence would be disastrous as Green Party Leader Elizabeth May warns. The spill would not only affect the five eastern provinces of Canada but also the eastern U.S. states.

And it would become an additional potential threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem on which all of us on both sides of the border depend for water, for fish and for recreation. If citizens on both sides of the border were to unite around this concern, would Stephen Harper listen?

Anne Mitchell, Toronto

Once again, more surprises are oozing out of the federal omnibus bill. This time, it’s the potential for ecological and economic disasters as a result of drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Through amendments to the Coasting Trade Act and the removal of the requirements for environmental assessments for experimental offshore drilling, this backdoor approval of the federal budget bill has left Canadians astonished, bewildered and decidedly uneasy.

One can only imagine what other surprises are lurking down the road.

Bill Wensley, Cobourg

“This was an attack on the rule of the law.”

So said Crown attorney Elizabeth Jackson, who is seeking a sentence of 18 months in jail and three years’ probation at the sentencing hearing of George Horton, 24, whose crime during the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit was kicking the scout car of Staff. Sgt. Graham Queen as well as another cruiser and a CBC van.

The officer “wasn’t just anybody,” Jackson told court. “This was an attack on the rule of the law.”

While I in no way condone violence in any way, shape or form, it seems to me that insisting on a separate sentencing criterion because a police officer was traumatized by what was essentially a property crime does a grave disservice to, if not the rule of law, then respect for that law, given that thousands of protesters demonstrating democratically and peacefully were assaulted, traumatized and violated in myriad ways by the very police who are now suddenly such sensitive souls.

But, of course, I need to remind myself that Canada under attack is what our Prime Autocrat and his lieutenant Vic Toews want us to believe is the reality today as they continue to carry out their destruction of our traditions.

Nose Hill Gentlemen

My favorite:

You can see more of the twitterverse's reaction to this paranoid gun-loving cop right here.

"Been to the Stampede yet?"

I'm just glad they didn't ask this visiting American gun enthusiast for a smoke.

UPDATE: I'm sure you'll want to read this.

More About Our Prime Paragons of 'Virtue'

Just a few reminders about the moral thugs within our midst:

Tides Canada's charity status attacked Pro-oilsands group accuses it of illegal political activity

Thomson: In the end, pipeline is a political decision

Justice minister won't send Del Mastro file to prosecutors Inappropriate to do so: Nicholson

Elections Canada investigating claims workers at company owned by Del Mastro's cousin were reimbursed for donations to MP's campaign

Stephen Harper: Then and now

Ex-Harper adviser Bruce Carson charged with influence peddling Critics dispute Kent’s greenhouse emissions figures

Peter Kent's Office Keeps Quiet About Report Linking Human Activity To Extreme Weather: Document

Conservatives ask court challengers for $250,000 deposit Council of Canadians backs voters who want 7 MPs' election wins overturned

The Harper Government and The Eve of Environmental Destruction

Despite recent toned-down rhetoric, I suspect Harper and his minions are fooling very few people.

Take, for example, the recent words of our Anti-Environment Minister, the integrity-challenged Peter Kent:

Confronted by a looming 2020 deadline for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the Harper government will ramp up its efforts to reduce climate change pollutants, Environment Minister Peter Kent said Wednesday.

In fact, as the article points out, the Harper regime has contributed almost nothing to achieve current reductions which take us halfway to the target; that has been wrought primarily by the combined efforts of environmentally conscious consumers and actions taken by provincial governments.

To further undermine any semblance of veracity, it was recently revealed that last year, this contemptible Harper mouthpiece presided over a department that

tried to minimize Canadian media coverage of its contribution to a major international scientific assessment report that highlighted evidence linking human activity to extreme weather events, according to a newly released federal memorandum obtained by Postmedia News.

Actions, as they say, do speak louder than words.

And of course, it is only words we are getting from our Prime Prevaricator, the man who has amply demonstrated through the actions of his micro-managed government nothing but withering contempt for science, data, and facts in general, doing everything he can to neutralize their threat along with those who dare to challenge his stunted and regressive world-view.

Take this rather rich statement Harper recently made, apparently with a straight face:

“The only way governments can handle controversial projects of this manner is to ensure that things are evaluated on an independent basis scientifically, and not simply on political criteria,” Harper told reporters during a visit to B.C.

“And as I’ve said repeatedly, the government does not pick and choose particular projects,” the prime minister said. “The government obviously wants to see British Columbia’s export trade continue to grow and diversify, that’s important. But projects have to be evaluated on their own merits.”

I guess that explains why he neutered the National Energy Board, robbing it of its ability to make a decision on the Northern Gateway Project, a power now residing solely in the hands of Harper and his cronies.

In his column today, which I hope you will get a chance to read, Thomas Walkom has much to say on some of these issues.

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