Blogger fuels PM’s claim U.S. is backing Canadian environmentalists
The Harper government is escalating its attack on critics of the Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline, labelling environmental groups opposed to the project as “radical” and claiming their U.S. financial supporters are working to “undermine Canada’s national economic interest.”
Accusing Stephen Harper of resorting to intimidation tactics as regulatory hearings begin on Tuesday, mainstream environmental groups such as the Sierra Club of Canada called it an unprecedented attack on their right to question government policy.
The ammunition for Ottawa’s broadside against the pipeline’s opponents is drawn in part from the work of a relatively little-known blogger from North Vancouver.
In the last 15 months, independent blogger and single mother Vivian Krause has become a one-person clearinghouse on how U.S. money is helping finance Canadian environmental activism.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/blogger-fuels-pms-claim-us-is-backing-canadian-environmentalists/article2296969/
Vivian Krause is the source of much of the Harper government's information about how U.S. donors are funding environmental opposition in Canada.
Vivian Krause
Vivian Krause, a resident of North Vancouver, British Columbia, is a controversial Canadian blogger who has worked in public relations for the salmon farming industry. She currently describes herself as an “Independent Public Relations and Communications Professional.”[1] Krause runs a blog called “Fair Questions” primarily focused on defending Alberta’s tar sands oil industry from criticism, and continuing to defend the farmed salmon industry.
In her December 7, 2010 testimony in front of the Canadian Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Krause mentions her colleague Rob Scagel: “I would also like to acknowledge the much-appreciated contributions of my colleague, Rob Scagel.” [21] Rob Scagel, a well-known climate change denier, was affiliated with the now-defunct industry-funded astroturf organization Natural Resources Stewardship Project as an “Allied Expert.” Scagel is also listed as a co-signer on a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed by 61 scientists denying climate change.[22]The letter was orchestrated by NRSP’s closely-affiliated ally, the “Friends of Science,” a front group that was "outed" by The Globe and Mail newspaper in August 2006 as being partly funded by the oil and gas industry.
Krause’s writing has been posted in several newspaper outlets in Canada, including the National Post, Financial Post, Calgary Herald, Montreal Gazette, Business in Vancouver, and the Vancouver Sun. Many of these operate under the Postmedia Network banner, and represent a neoconservative, right-wing perspective.
Krause suggested in a Financial Post commentary piece that David Schindler, a world-renowned water biologist at the University of Alberta, was part of a conspiracy to produce science matching the “agenda” of the Tides Foundation and others. Dr. Schindler responded to Krause’s allegations in a follow-up letter to the Financial Post. Schindler wrote that Krause “ignored some basic facts about the funding for the [contaminant] study,” and noted that, “all major universities have policies to protect scientists from pressure by funding agencies that attempt to bias or suppress their findings”.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Vivian_Krause
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