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The Environmental Movement in Alberta Part VI Environmentalism is a "semi-institutionalized social movement"

Environmentalism in Federal Government Operations in Alberta



William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com The Environmental Movement in Alberta Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Conclusion Environmentalism is a "semi-institutionalized social movement", meaning it is embedded into the state and uses state resources to grow. Imagine commandos boarding an enemy vessel by stealth then securing the vessel's deck and engine room but not yet the captain's bridge. Environmentalists are all over the federal ship of state but have yet to commandeer the vessel.
Of the hundreds of ministries, departments, and agencies accessible from the federal government's A-to-Z Directory, 57 have an environmentalist bent. There is an online envirozine running articles like "Kiss me, I'm Eco-friendly" and imploring citizens to participate in Earth Hour. There is a Youth Roundtable on the Environment and an International Environmental Youth Corps. There is the august National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy. There is a Green Cover program helping farmers switch from grains to perennials and a Green Municipalities Fund offering $350,000 grants to cities. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is the nation's leading purveyor of green propaganda. However, environmentalism's real beachhead within the federal government is in these 12 overlapping entities: Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Species at Risk Public Registry, Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife, National Research Council, Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Parks Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, and Canadian Wildlife Service. Canada is a Global Biological Information Survey member and a UN Convention on Biological Diversity signatory. Keeping such commitments forms the rationale behind the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility (CBIF). This gravy train for biologists plans to document Canada's 150,000 species. Documented info currently exists on only 5% of these species. CBIF claims: "Canadians need this information to make decisions regarding conservation, sustainable use and the management of endangered species." (1) The Species at Risk Public Registry helps implement the far-reaching agenda of the Species at Risk Act (SARA, 2003). To Registry eco-crats, "habitat loss due to development" is the leading cause of species endangerment and "stewardship" must be the first response to habitat loss. The Registry's bureaucrats have decreed: "All Canadians have a role to play in the protection of wildlife." (2)

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The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COESWIC) originated in 1977 but rose to prominence only after the passage of SARA. If COESWIC declares a species "endangered" Environment Canada has 90 days to respond. If a species is listed on the "at risk" registry, a recovery plan must be implemented. Of COESWIC's 31 directors: 13 are from provincial/territorial wildlife agencies, four are from federal agencies, and the rest are from universities and ENGOs. COESWIC's vice-president is from Nature Conservancy Canada. COESWIC employs 101 Bio-Sci Ph.D.s. (3) Founded in 1916, the National Research Council (NRC) now has 26 sub-departments and 4,280 employees. NRC is not entirely appropriated but greens are nestled into its Institute of Biological Sciences and into its sub-departments of Ocean Technology and Chemical Processes and Environmental Technology. Additionally, NRC's Environment Sector contains several lesser groups involved in the "commercialization of environmental technology that addresses major environmental issues." To fight climate change, NRC researches biofuels and hydrogen cells. One NRC group is seeking "greenalternatives to fossil fuels mainly from algae." (4) The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) was a love child of the "sustainabledevelopment" craze following the 1992 Earth Summit. In defining its purpose, CESD uses the phrase "sustainabledevelopment" 29 times on a single page. All federal ministries must have a sustainable development strategy and update this strategy every three years. Strategies and updates are reviewed by the CESD. (This function, since 2008, is duplicated by Environment Canada's overarching Sustainable Development Strategy.) All federal ministries must respond to citizen petitions regarding environmental questions. CESD facilitates this petition process. A survey of the 292 petitions processed so far betrays a service used almost exclusively by ENGOs. (5) The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) was founded in 1995 after passage of unique enabling legislation. CEAA is accountable to Environment Canada but has some independence. CEAA is headquartered in Ottawa but maintains six regional offices including one in Edmonton. CEAA's $37 million 2009 budget was topped up in 2010 to increase aboriginal consultation. (6) CEAA can conduct several types of assessment on any proposed project having potential environmental impact where there is federal jurisdiction (fish habitat, Indian reserve, defence base, national park). There are dozens of CEAA assessments going on in Alberta at any given time.

CEAA hurls money at ENGOs. Its Participant Funding Program is accessible to any person or group having a local interest in a proposed project or environmental expertise or traditional aboriginal knowledge. To assess Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline, CEAA awarded Forest Ethics $59,000, Living Oceans $91,000, Raincoast Conservation $83,000, and Nature Canada $47,000. Also for this assessment, CEAA spread $2.4 million around 38 First Nations. (They asked for $17 million.) The Ministry of Canadian Heritage protects natural heritage by dispatching Parks Canada to ensure the "ecological integrity for future generations" of a far-flung empire of National Parks and Marine Conservation Areas. Alberta is home to four national parks:  Banff (area 6,641 sq km), Elk Island (194 sq km), Jasper (10,880 sq km), and Waterton Lakes (525 sq km). Wood Buffalo National Park's 44,840 sq km area spans the Alberta-Northwest Territory border but is mostly in Alberta. Parks Canada runs four National Historic Sites in Alberta (Banff Park Museum, Bar U Ranch, Cave and Basin, and Rocky Mountain House). Parks Canada literature is deep green. The prefix "eco" appears several times a page. Policy is formulated by Canada Parks Council and partners: Society for Ecological Restoration International, US Parks Service, and various provincial counterparts. Their Bible, the neurotically repetitive Principles and Guidelines for Ecological Restoration in Canada's Protected Areas, was written in 2007 by a committee representing 12 groups. The declared goal is "to improve ecological integrity in Canada's natural areas" through "meaningful engagement of partners." The concept "native biodiversity" is central. (7) While not all Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) operations are co-opted, the trend is toward more enviro-movement appropriation. Canmet is a case in point. Beginning in 1907 as the Fuel Testing Division to facilitate exploitation of coal reserves, its name was changed to Canadian Centre for Minerals and Energy Technology (Canmet) in 1975. It now employs 450 scientists, engineers, and technicians on research bestriding the utilitarian-ecologist divide. Much Canmet research focuses on wind and solar power. Canmet's operations near Edmonton employ 130 people researching alternative fuels and related enviro-technologies, especially regarding oilsands. (8)


NRCan is in charge of the Climate Energy Fund, which in Alberta pipes $100s of millions into carbon capture and storage (CCS). NRCan's ecoEnergy Technology Initiative also funds CCS. NRCan's ecoEnergy for Renewable Power Program spent $1.5 billion subsidizing wind power, biomass energy, and low-impact hydro. This program met its target of supporting the development of 4,000 megawatts of green electricity. All wind farm construction in Alberta after 2007 was partly funded by this program. Developers could "stack" multiple government subsidies up to 75% of total project costs. NRCan's ecoEnergy Efficiency Initiative and its ecoEnergy Retrofit programs provide a host of incentives and rebates. Albertan beneficiaries include: CO2 Reduce, Edmonton; a Medicine Hat subdivision which got solar-powered water heaters; and various Albertans who received rebates for low-flush toilets. NRCan supervises the century-old Canadian Forest Service (CFS) -- a conflicted agency balancing industry needs with cries for "biodiversity and sustainability". While CFS literature is steeped in enviro-propaganda, they concede that deforestation in Canada is negligible and does not result from logging because harvested forests are re-planted. Of Canada's 4 million sq km of forestlands, only 500 sq km are deforested each year -- half for farmland on the Prairies. Nevertheless, CFS is committed to minimizing deforestation and justifies this with references to climate change. CFS's Northern Forest Centre in Edmonton employs 99 civil servants -- 17 with job descriptions mentioning "ecology" or "climate change". (9) Some Fisheries and Oceans Canada (FOC) operations, like the Coast Guard, have little environmentalist motive, and FOC's mandate to maintain profitable fisheries conflicts with environmentalism. FOC is surprisingly open-minded regarding fish farms. On the other hand, FOC's Fish Resource Conservation Council and Fish Habitat Management Program are seriously committed to "sustainable development". FOC funds conservationism and enforces stifling enviro-regulations. (10) The 1868 Fisheries Act prohibited damage to fish habitat. The Act's 1932 amendments added measures to improve fish-ways for migratory fish. 1976 amendments transformed FOC into a proactive environmental police force. Any potentially harmful alteration of fish habitat anywhere in Canada requires FOC permission. These powers were interpreted broadly by the 1986 Management of Fish Habitat Policy and were fortified by the Canadian Environmental Assessment and Species at Risk acts. FOC's Fish Habitat Management Program has 65 offices including ones at Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Peace River. FOC does its own investigation and enforcement. An example of FOC in action was the penalty levied on Wilco Landscape Corp in 2009 for harmful alteration of fish habitat. For removing vegetation near the Elbow River, Wilco was fined $95,000 and ordered to do restorative work. $75,000 of Wilco's fine went to Trout Unlimited Canada and $20,000 went to Elbow River Watershed Partnership pursuant to the Environmental Damages Fund. FOC enforcement activities in Alberta often target oil companies, municipalities, and livestock operations. On March 26, 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by FOC's Deputy Minister and the presidents of: Canadian Wildlife Federation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Canada, Nature Conservancy Canada, Wildlife Habitat Canada, Trout Unlimited Canada, and National Watershed Stewardship Coalition. The Memorandum creates a FOC-ENGO steering committee to manage fish habitat. Signatories conference annually.

To control oilsands producers' access to the Athabasca River, FOC partnered with Alberta Environment and ENGOs to create the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA). FOC's goal going into CEMA was to protect the river's "ecologicalintegrity". CEMA designates three levels of river flow -- green, yellow, and red -- with the latter signalling a need for tightened restrictions. Fortunately, the trifling amount of Athabasca River water currently diverted by oilsands producers keeps flow in the green level, but as production increases so will demand for water. (CEMA remade itself in 2010 after Pembina Institute, Toxics Watch, Fort McMurray Environmental Association, and Chipewyan First Nation quit in protest. The new CEMA has 16 members: 4 from industry, 4 from government, 4 from ENGOs, and 4 from native groups. Pembina and Toxics Watch continue to shun CEMA. They insist CEMA should be given veto powers over oilsands projects.) FOC is involved in the Canadian Stewardship Agenda and Canadian Biodiversity Strategy. FOC educates the public with its ‘Big Blue Bus' website and brainwashes kids with its Water Wizards Club. In 1971 Environment Canada (EC) took over the 100-year-old Meteorological Service and 24-year-old Canadian Wildlife Service. EC aims to make sustainable development a reality in Canada by preserving nature, conserving resources, coordinating government enviro-policies, and forecasting the weather. Regarding the latter, the Meteorological Service, having been inducted into the global warming campaign, now predicts weather a century into the future and monitors CO2 emissions. (11) Of EC's 6,000 employees, 2,100 are in Ottawa. (Five hundred are in its Prairie-Northern Region.) EC supports 350 environmental technology projects, 250 citizen-led initiatives, and has published 700 peer-reviewed scientific papers. EC works with hundreds of ENGOs, dozens of government departments, and several UN agencies (mainly UNEP and Commission on Sustainable Development). EC runs Community Action Program for the Environment (CAPE) except for its Aboriginal Species at Risk unit, which they co-manage with Indian and Northern Affairs and FOC. (Much CAPE funding goes to aboriginals.) CAPE gives ENGOs grants of up to $100,000. Calgary's Two Wheel View received a CAPE grant to foster environmental awareness among school kids. Bow Valley Climate Kids (a spin-off from Biosphere Institute of Bow Valley) got a CAPE grant to have adolescents make videos about global warming. Clean Calgary won a CAPE grant to promote low-flow shower heads. EC leads the Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP). Of the $180 million Budget 2000 set aside to protect species at risk, $45 million endowed HSP. The program grew. HSP has distributed $62 million to over 1,000 projects and now disburses $10 million a year. HSP funds "stewards" who protect habitat. By leveraging $153 million in private funds, HSP has enclosed 2,400 sq km of habitat. EC's Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) manages nationally important wildlife habitat. This labour-intensive endeavour requires indentifying ecologically important areas, monitoring migratory populations, diagnosing ecosystem health, and developing species recovery plans. CWS has a jurisdictionally induced fetish for border-crossing animals. CWS is an activist organization. According to their history: "By the 1960s and 1970s significant wildlife habitat, particularly wetlands, was being lost at an alarming rate." CWS and allies responded by pushing through the Canada Wildlife Act in 1973, then amending it in 1994 to include National Wildlife Areas. (Three of Alberta's four National Wildlife Areas are small, but Suffield covers 458 sq km.) CWS's annual bird survey mobilizes thousands of naturalists. CWS-led activism created numerous Migratory Bird Sanctuaries (four in Alberta). Their 1988 Prairie Conservation Plan, written by WWF Canada and endorsed by all provincial Environment Ministers, incorporates ENGOs into governance. CWS developed and promoted COESWIC and SARA. Other EC operations include: Environmental Technology Advancement Directorate, Water Survey of Canada, and National Water Research Institute. The latter employs 300 aquatic ecologists, environment modellers, environmental chemists, and "experts at linking water science to environment policy."

  1. cbin.ec.gc.ca
  2. sararegistry.gc.ca
  3. cosewic.gc.ca
  4. nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
  5. oag-bvc.gc.ca
  6. ceaa.gc.ca
  7. pc.gc.ca
  8. nrcan.gc.ca
  9. cfs.nrcan.gc.ca
  10. dfo-mpo.gc.ca
  11. ec.gc.ca

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William Walter Kay BA JD -- Bio and Archives

William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com


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