Category: politics

Is fear of the “Dirty Oil” label behind Canada’s tarring of artist’s European show?

See government documents…

Please, add your name to the petition!

Three questions that need to be asked:

1. What about the truth? Has the Canadian government’s commitment to its policies superseded its commitment to the truth?
2. What about the government’s duty to protect its citizens? Is it right for the Canadian Government to do everything it can to protect its economic interests, even if it means harming the well-being, or destroying opportunities, for some of its citizens? And if so, who decides which citizens or groups are disposable?
3. What about free speech? Do these actions by the government — deliberate efforts to silence dissenting opinions about its policies — put the Canadian right to Freedom of Speech at risk?

Read the highlights or download the entire ATI release of 165 pages of documents.

Banned on the Hill Posters

Here is the artwork for the six “Dear Prime Minister” posters:

Thanks to everyone who helped bring this message to the streets of Ottawa through LoudSauce:

See photos:
Victory! Banned on the Hill Opening in Ottawa

CREDITS:

Banned on the Hill © 2011 Franke James

Photographs, illustrations and writing by Franke James, MFA;

Executive Summary ATI: Summary of key pages in the Access To Information documents.

[Full] Access To Information Document: DFAIT Internal Communications regarding Franke James
Internal Government Documents related to the cancellation of Franke’s European Tour. Released on October 31, 2011. Contains 165 pages plus cover letter. Download PDF

LoudSauce: a new way to fund media space for ideas that matter.

Dear Prime Minister: Why are you making us choose between the economy and the environment?

CARE2 PETITION: Please sign the petition for free speech for Canadian artists. Thanks to Cathryn Wellner for spearheading this!
Sign the Care2 petition

“BANNED ON THE HILL” BACKGROUND RESEARCH:

Canadian Embassy Coaches Diplomats To Promote Tar Sands, Overstate Environmental Protection Efforts DeSmogBlog

Diplomats should promote fossil fuels in response to criticism Financial Post

Harper Government Guts Environment Programmes
Canada’s Stephen Harper government is spending more than 60 billion dollars on new military jets and warships while slashing more than 200 million dollars in funding for research and monitoring of the environment. IPS, Stephen Leahy

Scientist surfaces to praise ozone monitoring amidst federal review
Until now, the Conservative government, facing criticism about its decision to review resources in the monitoring network, has prevented [David] Tarasick from speaking publicly about the research. Mike De Souza, Postmedia

Canada’s crude politics on oil sands
Stephen Harper’s government, allied with big oil, is lobbying Europe not to regulate tar sands oil, but the pushback has begun. Martin Lukacs, The Guardian

New documents reveal Canada’s secret ‘Oil Sands Team’ in Europe; Geoff Dembicki, The Tyee

Documents Reveal Canada’s Secret ‘Oil Sands Team’ in Europe; Emma Pullman, DeSmogBlog

VOICES-VOIX SITE: The facts: Silencing Canadian voices.
Unfortunately, in recent years, successive governments have not respected these democratic principles. Instead, Canadian organizations and individuals who disagree with the government have been attacked, muzzled, censored, marginalized, and bullied. Institutions for knowledge and research that shed critical light on the government’s actions have been abolished, sabotaged, undermined, and weakened. Voices-Voix

Fear and loathing in Ottawa Linda Diebel, Toronto Star
“I should be able to speak my mind on political issues, but I’ve found members of the Conservative party seem to be more sensitive to criticism than other parties,” she says. “They make it very personal.” Heather MacIvor, University of Windsor

Psst… Harper Wins CAJ secrecy award
“Harper’s white-knuckled death grip on public information makes this the easiest decision the cabal of judges has ever rendered,” said CAJ President Mary Agnes Welch. “He’s gone beyond merely gagging cabinet ministers and professional civil servants, stalling access to information requests and blackballing reporters who ask tough questions. He has built a pervasive government apparatus whose sole purpose is to strangle the flow of public information.” Canadian Assoc of Journalists

One Department/One Voice: Environment Canada’s shift in 2007 to “one department, one voice” which restricts access to scientists by the media. (See report below which states that the protocol has resulted in an 80% drop in Climate Change science coverage in the media.)

Troubling Evidence: The Harper Government’s Approach to Climate Science Research in Canada
This report documents a troubling catalogue of actions by the present federal government that undermine Canadian climate science research and its practitioners… Environment Canada has adopted a new media relations policy that makes it much more difficult for journalists to have direct access to government scientists. Climate Action Network

Harper’s Humiliating Muzzle on Scientists: Canada is becoming a global joke as our world-class experts are prohibited from speaking. The scandal is growing at Environment Canada of how Canadian climate researchers are being “muzzled” by draconian policies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Tyee

Critics label Harper’s growing ‘black list’ a threat to democracy; Mark Kennedy, Postmedia

Stephen Harper’s Hitlist
Power, process and the assault on democracy; By Murray Dobbin, Council of Canadians

Banned on the Hill © 2011 Franke James
All photos and illustrations by Franke James except as noted: istockphoto © photo of Bird in “Do-Not-Call-List”, © modified heads in “Common Concerns”; Getty Images © cockroach; Icon photos of funders are © each individual funder.