South Coast Today - ELIZABETH MAY

Opinion: Don't confuse Peter MacKay's pipeline claims for facts

Timothy Gillespie — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 11:42:09 +0000

Elizabeth May on Rabble: There is a catechism of the fossil fuel industry, with oft-repeated claims that seem by repetition to escape examination. Peter MacKay's recent opinion piece on pipelines was a veritable greatest hits compilation of such claims.

He writes that "pipelines are by far the safest means of transporting oil." The first muddying of facts is the notion that we are talking about shipping oil. All the current pipeline proposals, including Energy East, are primarily about shipping unprocessed bitumen. Bitumen is in a pre-crude state and can only be casually referenced as "oil" if one accepted the idea that grain should be referred to as "croissants" when discussing markets.

The second problem with this much-repeated claim is the notion that it is "safest." The claim is not challenged because everyone recalls the tragedy of Lac Mégantic and the unsafe transport of North Dakota Bakken crude by rail. No doubt that shipping highly volatile and explosive Bakken crude is dangerous, by pipeline or rail. Here's the surprising thing: when shipping raw bitumen, rail is the safest mode of transport.

SEE FULL STORY ON RABBLE.CA HERE

Facebook Like

Tags:

peter mackay

ELIZABETH MAY

oil sands

canada

Election 2015: Harper's niqab position called "weapon of mass distraction"

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:02:20 +0000

“It’s a false debate for distraction purposes and for avoiding debate on real challenges for Canada.”

Stephen Harper came under attack from three of his main election rivals during Thursday night’s French leaders’ debate, fending off accusations that he’s using the niqab debate to distract from his record.

The federal government is fighting a Federal Court ruling that threw out its ban on the wearing of face coverings during citizenship ceremonies. When new citizens “join the Canadian family,” they should not hide their identities, Harper said.

It’s a controversial issue in many parts of the country, but it plays well in Quebec, where the NDP’s so-called orange wave washed away half of the Conservative party’s seats in the 2011 election.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Green party Leader Elizabeth May said Harper is using the issue to distract from government spending cuts and manufacturing job losses under his watch.

“What is the impact of the niqab on the economy?” said May, whose appearance alongside Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe marked the first time all five national leaders faced each together during the campaign.

“It’s a false debate for distraction purposes and for avoiding debate on real challenges for Canada.”

The free-for-all sections of the debate often devolved into all five leaders talking simultaneously, but the debate over the niqab question was particularly emotional and heated.

Tags:

Next election ‘very likely’ most expensive in Canadian history, say political insiders

Timothy Gillespie — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 11:21:44 +0000

FROM THE HILL TIMES: The Oct. 19 federal election is expected to be the most expensive in Canada’s political history because, for the first time, the election date is known and pre-election spending will be big, say MPs, party strategists, and third-party organizations.

“If third parties take a leaf out of our book, then it could be informative and helpful advertising. If they decide to go negative and follow the way Mr. Harper’s party runs ads, we can find ourselves in a toxic swamp.” Elizabeth May, Green Party leader

The House of Commons is scheduled to start its summer recess on June 23 and won’t return until after the Oct. 19 election. This means that MPs, political parties, and third-party groups are going to start campaigning for the next election almost full-time right after the adjournment of the House and will continue until the election day.

The spending cap for the major national parties in the last election was around $21-million. According to Elections Canada, in the last election, the New Democratic Party spent $20,319,567, the Liberal Party $19,483, 917, the Conservative Party $19,457,420 and the Green Party spent $1,924,478.

Tags: