Ethical Oil Complaint To Canadian Judicial Council Fails: Judge Ducharme Off Hook For For Participating In David Suzuki Mock Trial

Ezra and Co. (young Amanda) try to soften their defeat by marking up the document with snarky liner notes

  CJC Response to Complaint Against Justice Todd Ducharme

...but if they had really won they would have been singing the decision to the high heavens for the past week.  And they haven't.

Gruending On The CRA Audits

From his latest:

The government, however, has sent unmistakable signals that it wants a crackdown. Recent federal budgets have provided the CRA with an additional $13 million in special funding to undertake such audits at a time when the government was slashing the CRA’s budget by $250 million over three years, forcing the layoff of hundreds of auditors. Jim Flaherty, the former finance minister, issued a warning to charities in 2013. “If I were an environmental charity using federal money, tax-receipted money for political purposes, I would be cautious.” Others went considerably farther in their criticism and warnings. Joe Oliver, the natural resources minister, warned about the “radical agenda” of environmental groups, and former minister Peter Kent said the groups were “laundering” offshore funds to promote foreign interests.

As a side-note, a number folks including me got on Matt Guerney of The National Post for an error in one of his recent columns.  Matt claimed that several environmental groups had already been found guilty of abusing their charitable status but, if you note the last line, he was later driven to admit that this is not the case.  Of course, even when shown that he make a bugger-up on the facts, Matt's opinion of the issue (which might best be summarized as: Go CRA!  Kick them hippies!) remained unchanged.  As I noted below:

@Bigcitylib2 Life's funny sometimes.
— Matt Gurney (@mattgurney) August 13, 2014

X Ethical Oil SpokesThing Running For Tim Hudak

Jamie Ellerton, his name is, and he's running down in Parkdale High-Park.  Click through link below for more on him:

@SunNewsNetwork @JEllerton The old ED for @Ethical_Oil is running for Tim Hudak? The BCLSB file on him: http://t.co/HSuMHixehL #onpoli
— Bigcitylib (@Bigcitylib2) May 31, 2014

 His bio is interesting:

As the Executive Director of a national NGO, Jamie gave expert testimony to the House of Commons Finance Committee on the 2012-2013 federal budget.

The NGO he is referring to is, of course, Ethical Oil.  But note that he will not refer to it by name.

Ethical Oil's Troubled Relaunch Runs Afoul Of Fatboy Slim

Slowly, slowly, after many months of inactivity, tar-sands promoting lobbying thingy EthicalOil.org has been trying to reboot. Amanda Achtman has become their media contact, and they've attempted a few (guest) posts  on their website.  Furthermore, last month Amanda put together a  "Social Oil" youtube video, which was announced to some fan-fare.  But then after that one media hit...nothing.  And if you follow the links at EO you see:

Curious, I contacted Amanda to find out what was up.  Turns out EO had originally used this song by Fatboy Slim as soundtrack, and given the video's controversial nature, Fatboy's record company (note the blog name) had lowered the boom on them.  A slightly different version can be found here, not that I am recommending you watch it.

So, for some reason, Ethical Oil is back.  We shall see if they regain the level of influence they once, briefly, possessed.

Ethical Oil: Its Purpose Served?

The site has been inactive (other than intermittent messages to twitter) since October of last year.  Now the its gone down entirely.  For good?

Update:  Its back.

Ethical Oil--Still Dead?

Back in December 2012, former Executive Director of the Ethical Oil Institute Jamie Ellerton wrote:

I remain with Ethical Oil as the part-time spokesperson. Stay tuned for what's to come in the new year.

Four months into the new year, and the stench of death still envelopes their website.  E-mails to Jamie (last one sent in February) have gone unanswered.  Halloo?   Haaalllooooo?

More On Obama Delaying Keystone

This story has not had much pickup, esp. in the Canuck Media.  But the Omaha World-Herald seems convinced of its provenance:

An Obama administration official indicated Friday that no decision will be made on the [Keystone XL Gateway] pipeline until at least June.

If true, its probably the most important story in the Canadian news last, this, or next week.  Why your standard MSM types are obsessing over the LPoC beauty contest  re  #lpcldr at the expense of it is beyond me.

Calling The Canadian Revenue Agency. Hellooo? Hellloooo?

The Fraser Institute  continues to take ($150,000) in Koch Brothers money, and claims zero political activity in 2011.  If the Sierra Club is in violation, you would think Fraser would be. Mind you, its probably not enough to bitch.  Someone would probably have to lodge a complaint with the Compliance Division of the Charities Directorate of Revenue Canada.  The way Ethical Oil did.  Hmm.  A template for similar action against Fraser?

Ethical Oil Makes A Move

From John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada:

Tuesday the pressure further escalated when a thick 65 page fax arrived from lawyers (JSS Barristers Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP) representing Ethical Oil. It was a copy of a complaint Ethical Oil filed with the Canadian Revenue Agency the previous week alleging the Sierra Club Canada Foundation was in violation of tax rules.

So, quiet as things may have seemed on the surface lately, Ezra's gang--which may be down to Ezra himself these days--have still been collecting money from someone.

Ethical Oil Update: Jamie Ellerton Demoted?

I emailed Jamie Ellerton, who until recently was listed as Executive Director of the Ethical Oil Institute, and he was kind enough to respond as follows:

I remain with Ethical Oil as the part-time spokesperson. Stay tuned for what's to come in the new year.

Now that's interesting, as it implies he no longer holds the above-noted title.  And, more specifically,  "part-time spokesperson" is what Kathryn Marshall became after her epic on-air meltdown in late 2011 (or was it early 2012?).  So...a demotion for Jamie?  I asked him also if he was behind the resurgent EO twitter-feed, but he has not yet responded.  I strongly suspect he is not, just based on the fact that Kathryn has had very little to do with the organization since the shake-up that saw her, as it were,  busted down to private.

So, is EO back to being a one man operation until Ezra Levant finds himself another shill?

Ethical Oil Comes Alive

After almost three months of dead air, a single  story in the Fort Mc newspaper of record (and a post from some crazy left-wing blogger) triggers a frenzy of activity on  the Ethical Oil Twitter feed:

What you want to ask here is...who is driving the feed?  It does not seem to be their executive director Jamie Ellerton, because his recent (last 48 hours) activity is concerned more with very much other things, whereas previously he would tout EO 24/7 on his personal feed whenever they were pumping out content.  I've emailed JE asking if he's still involved in the project, but have thus far received no response.

So all of these tweets could be generated by a desperate Ezra from the home office of his rental.  He may be trying to convince potential donors that he's still worth giving their lobbying $s to.

Ezra Levant Forced To Deny Rumors Of EO Shutdown

Rumours surrounding the death of Ethical Oil, arguably Canada’s most vocal and controversial pro-oilsands lobbying group, are greatly exaggerated, says movement founder and Sun Media personality Ezra Levant.

[...]

Murmurs that Levant’s brainchild [Ethical Oil] was shutting down have been swirling on social media and in online forums since early September, when the group’s Twitter account, blog and Facebook page ceased being active.

However, the hiatus appears to be temporary. Levant says the website is currently being redesigned and the group will be launching a “grassroots recruitment project in the new year,” which he hopes will become active in January 2013.

Its always good to have hope.  But, with Joe Oliver abandoning EO-style rhetoric as counter-productive, its hard to know what possible use these guys might be.

PS.  I'd like to think I help spread some of those rumors.

Problems With "Ethical Oil" (The Book)

Suncor Energy engineer Sanjay Patel:

The other side of the debate is whether or not oil, including Canadian oil, is ethical. A lot of activists point to the objections from many aboriginal groups in northern Alberta. How is that addressed in the book?


I don’t like to use terms like blood oil, dirty oil or ethical oil.

I look at the practical side of things, whether it is an issue of First Nations or environmental issues, you need to look at the overall picture and the macroeconomic impact of the oilsands. You can’t look at one particular problem in isolation.

For instance, I know that the Northern Gateway pipeline is objected to by First Nations in British Columbia. But you also have to understand the huge benefits it will bring.

I do look at ethical oil a little bit in the ethics chapter. I know about the book from Ezra Levant and I think it’s a nice book, a nice read. He makes a strong case for the Canadian oilsands.

At the same time, the language he has used in his book has angered a lot of people and polarized Canadian oil. Justifying the Canadian oilsands by comparing Canada’s human rights record to Saudi Arabia and Iran, well, I agree that Canada is better, it’s true.

But it has polarized the debate and I personally don’t like the terms that have arisen from the debate.

So even though the intentions were good, it has done more harm than good?

Definitely, yes definitely. It’s made people angry, particularly those who care about the environment.

Well, I'm not sure about the "good intentions" bit.  I think the purpose of the book just was to polarize the debate, then bully those on the anti-side of it into submission  The problem is that Ezra and the people who finance him didn't realize that a healthy majority of Canadians already opposed (for example) Northern Gateway, and the book just hardened them in their opinion, as well as increased their number.  As a result we've seen the government backing away from EO-style rhetoric in recent days.  And as for Ethical Oil, the NGO, its website has seen no activity in almost three months, and the guy running it, Jamie Ellerton, has been tweeting more about The Raptors than the oil sands these days.

China: Canada Like Infertile Old Bag If We Don't Cough Up Bitumen REAL SOON

Chicomm PR offensive re  Northern Gateway Pipeline  in full swing.  Talking points contracted out to  Ethical Oil.

Its Usefulness At An End?

A brief note on an otherwise uneventful Saturday.  There has been no new material added to the Ethical Oil website since September 10th.  The same thing applies to their twitter feed. Furthermore, most of the people that took over from creators Ezra Levant and Alykhan Velshi seem to have left the project. Kathryn Marshall hasn't had much to say since her demotion.   And (something I had missed previously) Jordan Graham quit after a mere two months, deciding that he didn't want to live in Ottawa. Before September 10th posts were coming at a rate of one or two per week.  Worth noting that, as these posts accumulated, opposition to the Northern Gateway Project  rose inexorably.

Has the money behind the AstroTurf asked these folks to kindly STFU?  Wouldn't surprise me.

Northern Gateway: Not Going That Way

The latest poll out of B.C.:


In the survey, respondents were shown a map with the proposed location of the Enbridge Northern Gateway, a new pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s north coast that would export oil on tankers to China. Only nine per cent of British Columbians completely support the proposal (+2 since August), while 27 per cent support it (=), but could change their minds based on economic or environmental considerations.

Across the province, one third of respondents (34%, -1) say they completely oppose the Enbridge Northern Gateway, while one-in-four (23%, -1) oppose the proposal, but could change their minds based on economic or environmental considerations.

Worth noting that this this is after Harper's government's attempt over the last month or two to cool down the rhetoric re the pipe-line. Also worth noting: the people behind Ethical Oil.org, the government created pro-tarsand's astroturf group, haven't published anything in over a month.  Previously, they were spewing propaganda at the rate of a couple pieces a week.  I suspect that Harper and co. have realized that yelling at people isn't a very good PR strategy.

PS. Betcha Line 9 ain't going anywhere either.

Kathryn Marshall Steps Back From Ethical Oil

The New head-shills for EO are Jordan Graham and Jamie Ellerton.  Jamie is an ex-Kenney aide who also did time with Tim Hudak.  So behind the scenes puppet master Ezra Levant is keeping things all in the Tory family.   Jordan served as city councillor in Fredericton, New Brunswick and describes himself as a Libertarian.  Oh my!

Kathryn will apparently still blog for the astro-turf group on an occasional, but I suspect after her famous on-air meltdown we won't be seeing her on tv as much.  Alas, the world has become a little less blonde.

Goodbye, Kathryn, goodbye!

Update: On October 2, 2015, Ms. Marshall contacted me and suggested that my original post title was misleading.  I have changed it to reflect her remarks.

Ethical Oil Drops Da Bomb

Somebody is a genius.  They even slip in a reference to the Vigna suit.

Details on the video makers here.

Do Tar Sands Have Libel Lawyers?

 Levant said the oilsands have been “defamed” by a number of organizations...

Ezra, getting them all riled up in Fort Mac.

Even More Ethical Oil/Tory Connections Shit!

Deep Climate has done some excellent digging on the connections between the Ethical Oil Institute and our current government.

Meanwhile, Jenny Uechi from The Vancouver Observer has got a response from Minister Clement's office re the fact that the Ethical Oil Institute is using his old mailing address:

Tony Clement's communications director Jennifer Gearey called to say that it was "sheer coincidence", asking if living in the same house as a previous tenant indicated a connection between the residents. She requested the story to be taken down.

Uechi goes on to quote one Ian McGugan, a Vancouver based "analyst":

"The balance of probabilities makes me think that the P.O. box [shared by Ethical Oil and Tony Clement] is still under the control of the Ontario PC party."
 
McGugan probably thinks this because, if you google the toll-free number linked to Clement's old mailing address--1-866-257-4499--you find it linked to Ontario PC stuff going back for years.
 
Also, I found this interesting bit from an earlier DC post:
 
It turns out the Ethical Oil Institute was a “birdie” sponsor of this year’s Kinnear Classic celebrity golf tournament, an annual fundraising event in support of the Calgary Health Trust.
 
Ethical Oil launched in late June 2011, but even from the get-go they had the $8,000 on hand to send four golfers off to a golf tourney for Alta. lobby groups.  That's what a "birdie" sponsor costs (see page 10 of the .pdf).

Question: Is Ethical Oil the fakest of fake "grassroots" groups in the history of fake grassroots groups?