EDITOR’S NOTE: This original article, posted April 17, said the Tides Canada Foundation was audited and cleared in 2012. On April 22, The Canadian Press issued a correction, saying: while the Tides Canada Foundation was audited and cleared by the Canadian Revenue Agency in 2016, the Tides Canada Initiatives Society, a second Tides charity, is currently in the process of being audited.
Alberta’s incoming premier plans to take on environmental charities that he says are blocking exports of the province’s oil, but those groups may be saying “bring it on.”
In his victory speech Tuesday, Jason Kenney repeated his promise to fight back against Canadian environmental groups that take money from American foundations with what he says is the covert aim of economic sabotage by preventing Alberta from exporting oil in any direction but south.
“We have been targeted by a foreign-funded campaign of special interests seeking to landlock Canadian energy,” Kenney said.
READ MORE: Kenney says he’ll fight foreign-funded environmental groups after UCP wins Alberta election
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The federal Conservative government under Stephen Harper tried the same thing in 2012 by spending $12 million to audit environmental charities the Tories suspected of breaking the rules. Donations to those charities skyrocketed.
The Tides Canada Foundation was audited in 2012 and cleared in 2016. But figures compiled from federal statistics show the group collected $3.7 million in 2012 and nearly $13 million the next year. A related charity, the Tides Canada Initiatives Society, is currently being audited.
READ MORE: Charities ‘muffled,’ ‘harassed’ by Canada Revenue Agency audits: study
“If Mr. Kenney wants to drive tens of millions of dollars to a few environmental groups, to the detriment of 1,200 other environmental charities in Canada, just do what the previous federal Conservatives did,” said Mark Blumberg, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in charities.
“It would be a major fundraising coup for these few groups and terrible for the charity sector.”
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The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation is one of the groups Kenney has accused of conspiring against Canadian oil. But figures on the group’s website show the foundation spends almost six times as much fighting climate change in the U.S. than it does in all other countries combined.
The David Suzuki Foundation, another target, said 90 per cent of its donations come from Canadians — and two-thirds of those are from individuals.
READ MORE: UCP, Suzuki Foundation granted intervenor status in Saskatchewan carbon tax challenge
Watch below: (From December 2018) The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has granted intervenor status to a number of groups, including the United Conservative Party and the Canadian Taxpayers Association, in Saskatchewan’s carbon tax court fight with Ottawa. Ryan Kessler with the details.
Lead Now was investigated by Elections Canada and cleared last October of violating the rules, despite accusations Kenney made Tuesday.
Joshua Hart, who teaches social psychology at New York’s Union College, said Kenney’s speech fits the technical definition of a conspiracy theory: a small group working in secret to enrich themselves at the expense of others.
READ MORE: CSIS gathered info on peaceful anti-oil groups, but only in pursuit of threats: watchdog
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of opposition to pipelines.
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Street theatre pipeline protest outside of Vancouver court house -
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Rallies held across Canada to protest Trans Mountain pipeline -
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Dozens of anti-pipeline protests held across Canada today -
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Protesters interrupt Bill Morneau speech in Calgary -
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Alberta premier reacts to Al Gore’s anti-pipeline tweet -
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Anti-pipeline protesters climb onto drill -
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Pipeline opponents set to unveil next steps -
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RCMP arrest 3 protesters who zap-strapped themselves to Kinder Morgan gate -
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First Nations leaders rally hundreds of anti-pipeline protesters on Burnaby Mountain -
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Anti-pipeline protest in Vancouver -
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Anti-pipeline protesters turn out in force for Trudeau visit -
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Pro and anti-Trans Mountain pipeline protesters clash in Calgary
Most people believe in at least one, he said. Some may be true. But Hart said some circumstances are more conducive to their spread than others.
“When people are out of political power or when they feel they aren’t in control of circumstances, that’s when they’ll gravitate toward conspiracy theories.”
Mark Busser, who lectures on conspiracy theories at McMaster University, said it works the other way as well. Successful politicians can use such theories to attack enemies.
“This can be a way of pushing back against trends or social movements that can be out of step with their own policy preferences. It’s a way of undermining the legitimacy of critical voices.”
The theory first surfaced in the early 2010s but has resurfaced, appearing recently in opinion columns in mainstream media outlets.
Concerns about Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote may have helped bring it back, said David Tindall, a sociologist at the University of British Columbia. But the two issues shouldn’t be confused, he said.
Watch below: Some recent videos about Jason Kenney.
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Any Russian interference would have been to help a specific political party, Tindall said. Environmental groups work with whichever party advances their interests and sometimes switch allegiances.
“It’s not partisan in the same way.”
Besides, he said, climate change crosses borders. Canadians and Canadian groups are involved in other countries as well.
“Climate change is an international issue and Canadians are involved in international issues elsewhere. What does that matter?”
READ MORE: Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions went up in 2017 – far short of reduction targets
Blumberg said provincial governments have ways of making life difficult for charities. But it may not be worth it.
“The Conservative overreaction to what was, in the end, a very small number of groups doing things they didn’t like was in the end very detrimental to Alberta. (The UCP) need to come up with an approach that will actually result in there being progress on the things that the people of Alberta think are important as opposed to just taking potshots.”
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