Alberta public inquiry finds no wrongdoing in anti-oilsands campaign
Posted Oct 21, 2021 11:05 am.
Last Updated Oct 21, 2021 6:47 pm.
Canadian environmental groups did nothing wrong when they accepted foreign funding for campaigns opposing Alberta oilsands development, a public inquiry has reported.
In his much-delayed report released Thursday, Steve Allan, commissioner of the Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns, says the groups were exercising their rights to free speech.
“I have not found any suggestions of wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization,” Allan writes.
Did the Allan Inquiry find anything nefarious?
Minister Savage says there was nothing illegal, but people were hurt by these campaigns. #yeg #Yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/zyEUVO9YgO
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 21, 2021
“No individual or organization, in my view, has done anything illegal. Indeed, they have exercised their rights of free speech.”
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Allan also says the campaigns have not spread misinformation.
While he finds that at least $1.28 billion has flowed into Canadian environmental charities from the U.S. between 2003 and 2019, only a small portion of that has been directed against the oilsands.
Minister Savage asked about the report's numbers on just how much foreign money was directed at Alberta.
She concedes she was initially confused by the numbers. #yeg #Yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/GtEixtxUnv
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 21, 2021
Auditors Deloitte Forensic Inc. estimate that money at between $37.5 million and $58.9 million over that period. That averages to $3.5 million a year at most.
Alberta’s United Conservative government funds its so-called “war room,” an arm’s-length agency instituted to counter environmental groups, at up to $30 million a year.
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The report also finds that what it calls conservative/market-oriented charities that worked in support of the oilsands received at least $26.7 million from foreign sources.
Allan recommends a series of reforms to improve transparency in the charitable sector. He says charities should be subject to the same standards of disclosure as private corporations.
Here's the question from the New York Times to Minister Savage about what additional transparency she wants from anti-oilsands groups, as well as if oil companies should be subject to the same. #yeG #yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/s0QBH73rPy
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 21, 2021
He also calls for an industry-led campaign to rebrand Canadian energy.
“Industry associations, governments, and the industry itself have failed to counter (environmental groups’) efforts, such that the public has not had ready access to complete, reliable and balanced information,” Allan writes.
