Greenpeace, many other groups hold online blackout
Posted June 4, 2012 9:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund Canada and hundreds of other organizations have blacked out their websites to protest the Harper government’s efforts to restrict environmental protection laws.
Their sites are under a 24-hour blackout Monday to protest the Bill C-38, a 452-page omnibus budget bill crammed with measures that they say will weaken Canada’s environmental laws without any public input.
This bill also tries to silence charities and others who defend the environment by providing $8 million in new funding to audit and possibly defund charities.
“Today, organizations across Canada speak with one voice, one message,” Greenpeace Canada’s website said. “We will not be silenced.”
Other groups taking part in the online protest include the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecojustice and Equiterre. Click here for more information about the Black Out Speak Out campaign, and here for Bill C-38.
Meanwhile, 10 of Harper’s cabinet fanned out across the country Monday morning from St. John’s to Surrey, B.C., pitching the idea that less is more in the area of environmental protection, and that its re-branded resource development plan will create jobs without devastating the environment.
The government initiative is led by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, who opened the campaign with a morning speech in Gatineau, Que., near Ottawa.
Oliver said the goal is to promote investment, business confidence and jobs while strengthening environmental standards.
Under the changes, Ottawa will limit the number, duration and scope of environmental reviews on major resource projects, such as the Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline that would take Alberta oil to the B.C. coast.
“Canadians understand that we do not have to choose between economic development and the environment,” Oliver said in his morning speech. “It is not an either-or proposition.
“The fact is, our new plan will strengthen environmental safeguards, including tanker and pipeline safety. And for the first time, it will provide enforcement of environmental assessment conditions under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.”
With files from The Canadian Press
