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The Peoples' Right to
Decide Is Paramount
Alberta Government
Announces
"Climate Leadership Plan"
PDF
Calgarians rally in
support of action on climate change, November 28, 2015.
(Climate Action Network)
The Peoples' Right to Decide Is Paramount
• Alberta Government
Announces "Climate Leadership Plan"
• What Is Big Oil Up to on
Climate Change?
- Peggy Morton
Public Right Not
Monopoly Right! No to Public-Private-Parasites!
• No P3! No Bechtel! The
People Have the Right to Decide!
- George Allen
Education Is a Right!
• Keep Athabasca University
in Athabasca!
- Dougal MacDonald
The Peoples' Right to Decide Is Paramount
Alberta Government Announces
"Climate Leadership
Plan"
Peoples' Climate Change
Rally, Edmonton, November 28, 2015.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Environment
Minister Shannon Phillips brought together representatives of First
Nations, environmental organizations, and the biggest global oil and
gas monopolies operating in the oil sands to announce on November 22,
the government's Climate Leadership Plan.
"This is the day we start to mobilize capital and
resources to create green jobs, green energy, green infrastructure, and
a strong, environmentally-responsible, sustainable and visionary
Alberta energy industry with a great future. This is the day we step
up, at long last, to one of the world's biggest problems — the
pollution that is causing climate change," Notley said.
Under the plan, coal-fired electricity generation
will be phased out by 2030. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the oil
sands will be allowed to grow from the current level of roughly 70
megatonnes a year to 100 megatonnes. Economy wide carbon taxes will be
introduced. The price on carbon will increase
from the current $15 a tonne to $20 in 2017 and $30 in 2018. A carbon
sales tax on gasoline starting at 5 cents a litre and increasing to 7
cents a litre will be introduced, and people will also have to pay a
sales tax on natural gas for home heating. Some revenue will be used to
provide relief for low and middle income
Albertans, Notley said. Combined carbon taxes are expected to raise
about $3 billion a year initially, rising to $5 billion. Tax revenue
will subsidize companies' development of technology to reduce emissions
and expand renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind.
At the announcement, Tony Alexis, Grand Chief of
Treaty Six, highlighted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples and the obligation of governments to respect indigenous and
treaty rights, including the right to decide. Representatives of
environmental organizations Pembina Institute, Forest
Ethics, and Environmental Defence were also present. Speaking on their
behalf, Ed Whittingham from the Pembina Institute expressed his strong
endorsement of the Climate Leadership Plan.
The leaders of four of the biggest players in the oil
sands were also on the podium lending support. Steve Williams,
president and CEO of Suncor Energy Inc.; Lorraine Mitchelmore,
president of Shell Canada; Brian Ferguson, president and CEO of Cenovus
Energy Inc.; and Murray Edwards, chairman of Canadian
Natural Resources Ltd. were not just present, but hailed as champions
of climate change action, with Edwards singled out as a leader.
No doubt the people want the government to take
action on environmental issues including pollution and its effects on
the people and climate. But why is big oil so enthusiastic and when did
this remarkable transformation take place, where the biggest monopolies
operating in the oilsands are suddenly hailed
as champions of climate change action? Why is the major shareholder in
the corporation responsible for the BC Mount Polley mine pollution
disaster, Murray Edwards, being praised in this way? When were these
oil barons absolved of all responsibility for the environmental
devastation resulting from their reckless
pursuit of their narrow private interests and a big score? What redress
has been achieved? Apparently something has been holding them back from
doing what they have always wanted to do, and now the conditions have
been created for these global monopolies to unleash their passion not
only for their pocketbooks
but also their newfound care for Mother Earth and the people.
Since coming into being, private monopoly
interests have usurped the decision making power, which belongs to the
First Nations, Albertans and Canadians. The people have the right to
decide what is produced and how it should be produced and used. The
global monopolies have deprived the peoples of their
right to decide resulting in the well-documented environmental, social
and other problems the world faces.
No one has been holding a gun to the heads of the
monopolies telling them to deprive the peoples of their right to
decide. It is they who have long held guns to the heads of the working
people and small business depriving them of their rights. In spite of
their enormous power to deprive, including the power
of the state, the monopolies face numerous roadblocks in their pursuit
to satisfy their narrow private interests. One roadblock is the fierce
opposition they encounter from the people who refuse to accept the
denial of their right to decide. The monopolies bemoan this opposition,
which they often describe as a "lack
of social license" to pursue their reckless path of destruction. Their
tactics here in Alberta and indeed at COP21 in Paris are efforts to
undermine the opposition and achieve the sought-after social license to
serve their private interests.
The energy monopolies are also dealing with the
reality of a bottom dropping out of the price of oil amidst a glut of
oil, fierce inter-monopoly competition for markets and the consequences
of the aims of the most powerful imperialists to destroy the economies
of those who do not submit.
The development of tactics of big oil calls for
careful scrutiny and an active stand from the working class and its
allies in small business not to permit these monopolies to use the
people's demand for action on climate and the environment to justify
yet more schemes to pay the rich and deprive the people of their
right to decide.
 As soon as the government's Climate Leadership
Plan was released, everyone was called on to declare themselves for or
against it. Such an approach is not helpful in assessing precisely what
is being put in place, what impact it will have, and whether it
constitutes a pro-social response and new direction to resolve
the problems faced by the social and natural environment and the
destruction wrought by the monopolies.
What are the people being asked to take a stand
on: whether or not to reduce emissions and remediate negative
environmental impacts? Everyone knows that Canada's greenhouse gas
emissions have been skyrocketing mainly because of the oil sands.
Besides GHG emissions, other serious issues involving pollution
include the existence of vast tailings ponds, the negative health
effects on people, and the one-sided nature of oilsands development
that has left the economy and working class vulnerable during this
downturn.
The working class as well as First Nations and
Métis are fighting for a pro-social response to the crises of
pollution
and an economy in turmoil. A pro-social response is based first and
foremost on upholding the rights of First Nations, Métis,
Albertans and
Canadians, of which the most important is the right to
decide.
What Is Big Oil Up to on Climate Change?
- Peggy Morton -
In a joint press release, four major players in
the oilsands, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL), Suncor, Shell, and
Cenovus, express strong approval for the Alberta NDP government's
Climate Leadership Plan. They declare it a "historic development for
Alberta" that will "change the conversation about climate
change, oil sands and infrastructure." The press release states that
they are proud to be working with leading environmental organizations
to "better understand each other's views and recommend solutions for
the oil and natural gas industry that helped inform the policy."
"By directing revenue generated from the new
carbon pricing regime towards the development of potentially
game-changing greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction technologies, this
made-in-Alberta plan lays the foundation for the province to become a
global leader in addressing the climate change challenge," the
press release states. "It also creates the conditions for Alberta's oil
to become carbon competitive on the global stage and for Canadians to
begin receiving full value for their oil exports. By demonstrating that
Alberta is willing to lead the way with an ambitious climate plan, the
province can become a preferred source
for oil and create sustained wealth and jobs for future generations of
Albertans and Canadians."
These sentiments were echoed by Pembina Institute
Director Ed Whittingham who said, "Today we are making history, with
Alberta taking its rightful place as a leader on the world stage.
Premier Notley promised Albertans leadership on the issue of climate
change and she and her government have delivered.
This is the right thing to do both for our environment and our economy.
The world needs more of this kind of leadership from major energy
producing jurisdictions if we are to avoid dangerous climate change."
The stand of the oil monopolies reflects the
conclusion that Harper's approach was a colossal failure. Harper's
position held that no scientific or popular opposition would stand in
the way of the rapid growth of the oil sands and export of raw bitumen.
Harper and the Alberta PCs failed in their mission and could
not force through a single pipeline. Harper told Obama that he would
not take no for an answer yet the answer he received was still no.
Simply put, the big four in the oil sands have decided that their best
option to transport oil to markets is to present themselves as
champions of climate action. The focus and aim
remains the opening of export markets and this is the way to do it,
they have concluded.
Premier Rachel Notley called the final decision by
U.S. President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline a "wake-up
call" for Alberta. Obama said that oil from the tar sands is some of
the dirtiest oil in the world. Alberta is a land-locked energy producer
with a single market that just took a very hard hit,
Notley said, and "we are going to do better."
While Obama's remarks have been the focus of much
discussion, the monopolies operating in Alberta know very well that the
U.S. is currently swimming in oil and that market prospects in the U.S.
are dismal. The real target is to ensure the approval of Energy East
and the TransMountain lines to export to markets
in Europe and Asia.
So, is there nothing or something to worry about
with this sudden change of heart of the oil monopolies, the people ask.
The monopolies may be self-serving and somewhat cynical in their
awakening to the pollution they have caused but no matter what their
motives are, does the change not serve the common
good? Will the oil monopolies clean up their act after which everyone
benefits? Billionaire Murray Edwards, promoted as the poster boy for
climate action amongst owners and CEOs of big oil, makes the argument
of one happy family with a common aim and politics.
"This announcement removes barriers for
collaboration with a broader group of stakeholders. We are all now
working together to realize the full value provided by the oil and
natural gas industry, including jobs, economic benefits and government
revenues in a way that addresses the challenges associated with
climate change," said Murray Edwards, CNRL Chair.[1]
What barriers does the government announcement
remove? Would it include the people's opposition to monopoly dictate,
which Edwards suggests will now melt away under good-natured one nation
politics? Why are the oil companies giddy about the announcement and
what are their expectations and demands
of the provincial government?
It seems the monopolies will pay a carbon tax up
front, with the people paying at the gas pump and for home heating, and
then have a certain amount of the tax revenue returned to the
monopolies to pay for technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions. If this is how the plan is to work, then big oil
may consider the exercise nothing but a grand cynical PR stunt to pose
as good guys in the eyes of the people, especially those concerned with
the self-serving pollution of the monopolies, and in the process slip
through a couple of green pipelines.
Much of the sales taxes collected at the gas pump
and from natural gas used for home heating according to the carbon tax
plan will be handed over to the energy monopolies. At first blush, the
carbon tax and sales taxes appear to be a cash-back plan for the energy
monopolies, a massive pay-the-rich scheme in
the making, one which big oil, including the drilling contractors
association, will no doubt work overtime to game in every way possible.[2]
The assumption in all this is that the public
interest is somehow served by opening export markets for bitumen. The
people are not convinced and continue to be deprived of the right to
set the direction for the economy and decide what will be produced and
how it will be produced, distributed and used. The monopolies
remain firmly in control of decision making with the aim of serving
their own narrow private interests, but with the new twist of trying to
equate their private interests with the public interest and the
people's desire for action to combat pollution.
Rather than a repeat of the old methods to pay the rich,
which now
are to include cynical twists that posture as new and even green, the
workers' opposition demands a new direction for the economy, which
includes empowerment of the people to decide, new ways of collecting
revenue from the economy through public enterprise and other methods, a
transition to a diversified economy based on manufacturing, public
services and social programs, and an end to monopoly control over
crucial sectors of the economy, such as raw material extraction in
Alberta. A new direction with a new aim to serve the people would
ensure development of upgrading, processing and manufacturing to
replace the "rip and ship" economy presently imposed by the monopolies,
which inevitably leads to boom greatly profiting a few, and bust
affecting the many.
Importantly, the government must stop paying
the rich. The funneling of public funds to private interests, in this
case the oil monopolies should be banned and recognized as criminal
pilfering of the public purse. Giving the private monopolies public
money strengthens their empires and their monopoly right to dictate
policies to serve their narrow private interests. Public money to pay
the rich protects and grows their private fortunes and class privilege,
and weakens the public right to control the economy and decide its
direction and how best to humanize the social and natural environment.
The public funds proposed to pay the energy monopolies, disguised under
the guise of green initiatives, should go instead to build public
enterprises that together with the universities woul generate expertise
on
the energy front and continually pour value back into productive
development and the science necessary to make a real difference on the
climate front and the economy.
Notes
1. CNRL Chair Murray Edwards had an estimated
personal net worth of US $2.2 billion in 2011. CNRL was the first to
sign contracts with the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC)
for construction of the Horizon oil sands project with the aim to
degrade wages and working conditions.
Horizon was also the first project to use temporary foreign workers in
an arrangement where CLAC turned a blind eye to the fact that the
workers were being paid far below the industry standard. Edwards is a
major donor and fundraiser for the BC ruling Liberal Party. He is the
controlling shareholder of the Mount
Polley gold mine in BC where the tailings pond collapsed in 2014,
sending years of accumulated toxic wastes into the surrounding lakes
and rivers, including contamination of the once pristine Quesnel Lake.
2. In following issues, Alberta Worker
will take up the questions of whether carbon exchanges and taxes on
carbon commodities are effective and suitable weapons to combat climate
change.
Public Right Not Monopoly
Right!
No to Public-Private-Parasites!
No P3! No Bechtel!
The People Have the Right to
Decide!
- George Allen -
 The City of Edmonton announced on
November 25, it
has given a 30-year $1.8 billion private-public partnership (P3)
contract to TransEd partnership led
by Bechtel. The P3 contract is for the private portion of the Millwoods
extension of Edmonton's LRT. Bechtel is a giant U.S. construction
monopoly closely aligned with the U.S. military.
The other TransEd partners include Ellis-Don, Bombardier, Fengate
Capital Management, IBI Group, American Bridge Canada (U.S.), Arup
Canada (England), and Veolia (France).
Alberta Worker in its
November 25 issue points out why the people of Edmonton should oppose
building the extension as a P3. In a
nutshell, "P3s are just one more scheme to remove decision-making from
the people, transfer public wealth to private interests and enforce
monopoly right over public right. They are privatization by stealth,
another strategy to pay the rich, to divert public funds into the hands
of the monopolies, with minimal risk for the private interests." (See Alberta Worker, November 25, 2015 -
Vol. 1 No. 9)
The people of Edmonton have been excluded from the
Millwoods LRT decision-making on at least two levels. First, they had
no say in the decision to build the Millwoods line as a P3 instead of a
completely public project. Second, they had no say in selecting Bechtel
and the TransEd partnership as the private
contractors.
Looming over this process is the question of what
say, if any, the people of Edmonton will have regarding the actual
carrying out of the 30-year private contract, now that it has been
signed, sealed and delivered behind their backs. How will the people of
Edmonton hold Bechtel and TransEd accountable for the
LRT work, when they have had no say to this point in the decision, and
when most of the monopolies involved are foreign-owned and closely
integrated with their imperialist states?
Recent experiences with the City, the LRT and the
French monopoly, Thales, are instructive here. In 2011, the City hired
Thales, owned jointly by the Government of France and France's leading
war contractor, Dassault, to complete extension of the signal system
for the LRT's branch line to NAIT by April 2014.
Problem after problem ended up delaying opening of the new section for
15 months. What was the City's response? In The Edmonton
Journal dated August 19, 2015, the Mayor admits, "The city
did not hold the contractor accountable to deliver the product that
they contracted to deliver."
The City's decision to award the signalling
contract to Thales was very questionable in the first place because
Thales has been involved in some major business scandals:
- In 2004, the World Bank blacklisted Thales from
any of its projects for one year because of fraudulent practices in a
US$6.9 million contract for supply and maintenance of motorcycles in
Cambodia.
- In 2005, Schabir Shaik, financial advisor to African
National
Congress President Jacob Zuma, was found guilty of organising a bribe
on behalf of Thales relating to an arms deal.
- On June 10, 2011 Thales was ordered to pay 630 million
Euros (almost
U.S.$1 billion) in fines after courts heard that bribes had been
paid to the Taiwanese government to win a large naval contract, the
largest corruption case in French history.
Not only the P3 decision but also the City's
selection of Bechtel and its partners for the Millwoods extension are
an affront to the people. Bechtel's dark history, a matter of public
record, is closely aligned with U.S. predatory wars, including in
Vietnam and Iraq. Since the Second World War, wherever the U.S.
military has been active Bechtel has been involved. This includes the
recent wars in Iraq and elsewhere in West Asia and North Africa where
the U.S. military has destroyed and rebuilt infrastructure in its
interests over and over again.
Further, a revolving door exists between Bechtel
executives and the U.S. government, especially the CIA. Here are a few
of the many examples:
- Riley Bechtel is a member of the Trilateral
Commission and was appointed to the U.S. President's Export Council
under George W. Bush
- former Bechtel President George Schultz was Ronald Reagan's Secretary
of State
- former Bechtel executive Casper Weinberger served as Reagan's
Secretary of Defense
- former Bechtel consultant William Casey served as director of the CIA
- Stephen Bechtel's wartime business partner John McCone served as
director of the CIA
- former CIA director Richard Helms later became Bechtel's General
Counsel
Bechtel is a very powerful monopoly closely
connected with the U.S. state and its military/police power. A May 22,
1988, New York Times article entitled "Government
by Bechtel" asserts, "No other private corporation in modern history
has had closer ties to the (U.S.) Federal Government than Bechtel."
Couple this with the fact that NAFTA (1994) and other free trade
agreements include clauses giving foreign monopolies the right to trump
decisions made by sovereign governments, including municipal
governments and cause for alarm is increased.
The Global Affairs Canada website on International Trade
Agreements notes that under NAFTA,
municipal officials need to assess, "whether certain types of policies,
programs or projects could be subject to trade agreement
obligations....
Key questions that should be asked as part of such an assessment focus
on four areas of municipal activity: financial assistance, government
procurement, P3s and regulation."
 The people in Bolivia have given us a good
example
of soundly defeating Bechtel to serve the public interest. A Bolivian
people's movement said a resounding "No!" to the company's interference
in the public sector. A Bechtel-led consortium privatized the municipal
water supply in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1999-2000.
The privatization included making the use of rainwater illegal. The
people of Cochabamba launched a continuous wave of demonstrations
against the monopolization of supply and the huge rate hikes that
followed, including a massive general strike. This staunch resistance
led to reversal of the decision to privatize
in April 2000. Bechtel sued for compensation of $40 million but dropped
all financial claims in January 2006.
The awarding of an LRT P3 contract behind the
backs of the people of Edmonton once again brings to the fore the main
issue: "Who decides?" The people of the City of Edmonton have a right
to a genuine say in all the decisions that affect their lives,
including matters of public transportation. This right is greatly
threatened when major transportation projects such as the extension of
the LRT are handed over to the private sector through the use of P3s,
especially when the narrow private interests are extremely powerful
dangerous monopolies with a history of acting against the public
interest in concert with the U.S. state and
its military/police power.
The
people of Edmonton need to stand as one on this issue and not allow
this P3
to proceed. They have the right to decide! It is not in the
public interest to have U.S. warmongers and parasites sucking value out
of our city for thirty years and dictating how our public
transportation
should be built, organized and managed.
The Edmonton Mayor and Council have made it clear
they do not stand with the people but are in bed with the foreign
monopolies and parasites and their monopoly right in opposition to the
people and public right. This must not pass! This is our city and our
project. The people have the right to decide!
Public
Right Yes! Monopoly Right No!
No P3s! No Bechtel! No Parasites!
Keep the LRT Public!
Education Is a Right!
Keep Athabasca University in Athabasca!
- Dougal MacDonald -
On November 25, representatives from Alberta Union
of Provincial Empoyees (AUPE) Local 69, Canadian Union of Public
Employees (CUPE) Local 3911, and the Athabasca University Faculty
Association
(AUFA) met at the Legislature Building in Edmonton to deliver a
petition to Honourable Lori Sigurdson, provincial
Minister of Advanced Education and Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training
and Labour. The petition called on the government to keep the
headquarters of Athabasca University (AU), Alberta's online distance
university, in the town of Athabasca where it has been located since
1970. Minister Sigurdson stated that the government
was in favour of this.
The petition included almost 900 signatures and
was organized in response to comments by interim AU President Peter
MacKinnon in his June 1, 2015, Presidential Task Force Report. The
three unions had already issued a joint press release disagreeing with
the contents of the report. The report suggested
that for "sustainability reasons" AU's headquarters might be better
relocated to a larger centre. Page seven of the report claims that the
size of the town of Athabasca "is an obstacle to the recruitment and
retention of professional personnel" and that Athabasca does not meet
MacKinnon's criteria for "viable small
town universities and colleges elsewhere in Canada and the United
States."
The report also
specifically targeted the members of CUPE Local 3911, who were excluded
from
representation on the task force, decrying the fact that few of the 290
CUPE members live in Athabasca. First, AU also has offices in Edmonton
and Calgary. Second, AU courses are offered online, not in classrooms
in a building in Athabasca. The locations of the students and hence of
the teaching staff is flexible. Third, all CUPE members are forced to
be part-time and so require other work to make a living, e.g., contract
teaching for other post-secondary institutions. Such additional work is
usually more easily found in larger centres like Edmonton and Calgary.
While presenting the petition, the union representatives
pointed out to Minister Sigurdson that at present about 400 Athabasca
university workers live in or around the town of Athabasca and that
closing the university would seriously disrupt their lives and
livelihood. Athabasca is a small town with a population of about 3,500,
located 230 kilometres north of Edmonton. The university is the largest
employer in the town, annually contributing an estimated $30 million to
the local economy, so closing the headquarters is not just an issue for
AU workers. The closure would alter the demographic fabric of the
entire community and would be a serious body blow to many other
workers, farmers and small businesses in the area. Young workers in
particular would be hard hit and would be the most likely group to
leave the Athabasca area to find other work, thereby undermining the
whole community.
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