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OTTAWA Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet ministers fannedout across the country Monday to counter a "black out"campaign launched by charities that are accusing the government ofusing budgetary measures to weaken federal environmental oversightand intimidate critics. Led by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, the cabinet ministersused their campaign to tout the government's budget plan and itssupporting legislation, which would rewrite several environmentallaws and significantly reduce the number of federal scientistsmonitoring Canada's air, wildlife, waterways and oceans. More than 500 groups, including some south of the border in theUnited States, symbolically blacked out their websites to protestthe measures in the budget and its supporting legislation, BillC-38. They claim the plan is the result of intensive lobby effortsfrom the oil and gas industry. The groups have also denounced some ministers in government formaking unfounded allegations that suggest the groups are involvedin criminal conspiracies. The charities further questioned themotives behind increased federal funding for the Canada RevenueAgency to investigate their operations. Among the allegations, Environment Minister Peter Kent has in thepast accused the groups of doing "money laundering" before admitting it was a "figure of speech." HisConservative colleagues in the Senate have also suggested Canadianenvironmentalists are conspiring with aliens from another planetand terrorists. Oliver and nine other cabinet ministers argued Monday that thebudget and its supporting measures would boost economic growthwithout sacrificing environmental-protection measures and policies. "Responsible resource development will ensure that ourabundant natural resources are developed in a sustainable way forthe benefit of all Canadians," Oliver said at an event inGatineau, Que., near Ottawa. Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, acharity group that has worked closely with the Harper government insupport of its plan to manage toxic manmade substances, mocked theministers for their efforts to contradict the "black out"campaign. "The amazing thing is that when these 10 ministers speak, youcan barely see Big Oil's lips moving," Smith joked at a newsconference. "Make no mistake, Bill C-38 is not a simple budgetmeasure. It's the latest expression of an agenda to dismember anyeffective federal oversight of environmental protection." He noted that the Conservative party never campaigned on any of thepolicy changes it is now proposing in government, but was pressedinto action because of U.S. President Barack Obama's 2011 decisionto delay approval of TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipelineexpansion project, which would allow Canadian oil companies toincrease exports to refineries on the gulf coast of Texas. Smith said that other companies in the forestry, fisheries andmining industry have worked with conservation groups to reducetheir environmental footprints and promote sustainable development,but the oil and gas industry is taking an adversarial approach. "There's one industry in this country that's knuckle-dragging,that is aggressive, that is used to getting its own way and thatclearly, in the wake of the Keystone XL decision, went like a bunchof crybabies to the federal government, demanding that thegovernment do something to push through these pipeline projects atall costs," Smith said. "The one commonality of all these changes to environmentalstatute is that their undermining was on the oil industry's wishlist," Smith said. Travis Davies, a spokesman for the Canadian Association ofPetroleum Producers, defended the federal government's proposedoverhaul of environmental protection laws, expressing"frustration" that "activists have chosenname-calling over constructive debate." He said that regulatory reform is not weakening environmentaloutcomes. "It's about timely decisions, clear process, publictransparency and an efficient regulatory regime for all Canadianindustries that helps Canada compete for global capital," saidDavies, echoing arguments adopted by the government. "Today's blackout campaign completely ignores the fact thatregulatory reform is necessary and applicable to all Canada's majorprojects (and) industries, and will increase Canada'scompetitiveness, ability to attract investment, employment andoverall economic strength while continuing to meet the sameenvironmental requirements as previous." Davies added the reforms were also positive changes for othersectors, such as mining, forestry, infrastructure and manufacturingas well as other development plans, such as the Ring of Fire inOntario and Quebec's Plan Nord. Quebec Premier Jean Charest has said regulatory reforms were notnecessary in Quebec since a joint environmental review process hasalready reduced levels of duplication. NDP leader Thomas Mulcair also criticized the government in theHouse of Commons on Monday for suggesting it would replace aspecialized team of Environment Canada smokestack monitoringscientists, by outsourcing work to the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. "Usually countries try to take care of their ownenvironment," Mulcair said. "We don't outsource it." Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenneyresponded that his government has made more environmental progressthan any other regime in "the history of the dominion,"through various measures, such as stronger tailpipe standards forvehicles, restrictions on toxins, and increased enforcementpolicies. Twitter.com/mikedesouza. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Heated Gloves Battery , China Heated Jacket Battery for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits IPC Battery.
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