Gore: US Oil Financed Harper

I thought it was right-wing Americans? This is what I love about liberals (in particular the Democrats in the States). Could someone provide us with names and facts, and not just vague allegations?

I don't doubt the oil companies here in Canada support the Conservatives. No more than I doubt most prisoners in our correctional facilities supported the Liberals, but I won't hold that against them. Liberals are having a hard time accepting that not everyone is a liberal nor does everyone sprout liberal values. The reality is these people cannot accept the fact that Canadians made a democratic decision that they disagree with. Get over it!

You're going to say it was a number of things, but at the end of the day people are responsible for the choices they make, if you can't accept that then you're just an intolerant prick.


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"All great truths begin as blasphemies" - George Bernard Shaw

Thank You Eleanor!
It is good to see some of us remain vigilant even though the more obtuse bleat “The election is over…”
Whatever the motivation for Al Gores claim, it is worthy of consideration.
The scope of, or dimension of scale of donations and involvement(s) of the oil/ bank consortium(s) are of major significance to the peoples of the countries infected by puppet-masters.
“Canadians, Gore said, should vigilantly keep watch over prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord -- an international agreement to combat climate change.”
YES! I most emphatically agree we”SHOULD”
The question, though, is do we have the collective will?


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"There is no reason good can't triumph over evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the mafia."
Kurt Vonnegut

Intolerant / intolerable


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"There is no reason good can't triumph over evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the mafia."
Kurt Vonnegut

I have nothing but respect for Al Gore, which is why I'm taking his accusations seriously. After all, he helped create the internet as it is today. On the other hand, if all we have is his accusations, how are we to ever make an unbiased judgement on the matter?

Where's the beef?

I would also like to know more. What I highly doubt is that U.S. money made it into the hands of the Conservative Party. Further to that - they would be really stupid to try to us such funds. Campaign financing is rather strict in Canada, unlike the U.S..

Did oil companies and the Canadian corporate media shelter the Conservative Party and give them an advantage - you bet. Some Canadian newspapers/media outfits are very clear about who they support. I would also imagine an examination of Conservative election returns will show corporate donations from oil companies in Canada, but they are probably within the laws of this nation.

As long as corporations can still donate money, they will pick who best will go to bat for them. The Conservatives had the very worst platform when it came to the environment, including abandoning Kyoto in whole or in part. So it is not surprising that oil companies would flock to them.

I sort of respect Gore for speaking up, but why didn't he find the voice for his own nation when the election was stolen out from underneath him?

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If there was ever a time for Canadians to become pushy - now is the time - for time is running out on this nation called Canada.

There was no requirement for Harper or any other leadership candidate to report who financed their campaign either time Harper ran for the leadership of a political party.

The PC Party had internal rules but Peter MacKay was able to get around them by deregistering the party. The merger gave him a way not to report who paid off his debt and Elections Canada was extremly lenient on these issues. US oil companies could have paid off MacKay's debt to buy the merger: there is no way to know.

Harper did release an incomplete list of donors but there was no need to release a complete list. Elections Canada grandfathered the Conservative leadership race so unlike the Green Party's last race no financial reporting was required.

In other words, it would not have been difficult for US oil to be behind Harper and I am not sure there would have been anything illegal about it when he became leader.

US oil, or for that matter CANADIAN oil wants Canada out of Kyoto so they back the conservatives-and you need Al Gore to tell you that? There are two political parties in Canada, the Atomic Power Party of the east, and the Oil Industry party of the west. Take your pick, but again, let's not pretend canadians 'made a decision', only 23% of canadians voted for Harper.

Actually, 36.5% of Canada voted for the Conservatives. If people didn't vote, they don't count (and shouldn't be counted). If they were so apathetic that they couldn't be bothered getting involved, then that is their loss. They have no claim to gripe now.

As for Gore's claim -- it seems like a ridiculous swipe, not really worth attending to until some serious numbers are produced. But because of election funding laws, no serious numbers can take place. That said, it is worthwhile keeping an eye out -- lobbying season just began and its going to be a busy one.

GB

Lol. Sounds like Mr. Gore has less staff these days to prevent him from making an ass of himself. Had he bothered to fact check, he might have learned that Canadian Election laws differ from the US.

As we all know, the federal Elections Act limits corporate donations to $1,000/year. Individual donations are capped at a $5,000/year. And the Libs do receive these capped donations from the oil towers as well. But I guess when you are uninhibited by things like facts, it is easy to claim someone "poured" oil money into Harper's back pocket helping him to defeat the great enviromentalist Paul Martin. I'm surprised Gore didn't mention Harper's plans to put soldiers, with guns...in our cities while he was at it.

Another thing Gore didn't mention at the Film Fest was the Conservative election platform, which would further limit individual donations to a max of $1,000 and ban all donations from corporations, unions and organizations (maybe that explains Buzz and Maude's Liberal support). Parties and candidates are required to make public any contributions exceeding $200. Hardly a good strategy, if you want the big oil money "poured" onto your next campaign. Of course, I guess that's the common theme with these world saver types. Be they Libs (and friends) or Al Gore. Rhetoric trumps facts every time. Witness Kyoto and the "global conscience" nonsense.

While we don`t have the proof, i wouldn`t be suprised at all if US oil money financed BOTH the liberals and conservatives. Exxon-Mobil could do it through its Canadian branch, Esso. So could Suncor. And I`d like to know which company bought the rest of Petro-Canada after the liberals sold it off.

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Dave Ruston

You are probably correct. If you look at the donors to Martin's leadership campaign it appears that there were several corporate donations from Canadian subsidiaries.

Now that corporations are no longer able to donate directly to parties they have gone heavily into financing pressure groups to try to influence the media and through them the public. Virtually all the information the media uses to excuse high oil prices, etc. are supplied by pressure groups funded by the industry.

Today most government policy is made by well-financed pressure groups such as the Fraser Institute, the Conference Board of Canada, the C. D. Howe Institute, etc.

Well, who here disagrees with the notion that US administrations have been either influencing or interfering elections and governments worldwide for many, many years now? Question 2, Why would they stop doing that when it comes to their neighbour? We're a resource-rich country, so don't try to tell me that doesn't prick up the ears of the oil and blood-soaked neocons running the show in DC. They may not be able to outrightly control our government yet, but they are sure going to do their best to ensure our policies are in line with theirs. It's worth noting that prior to our election, GW Bush, on his first official visit to Ottawa, broke protocol and had meetings with Stephen Harper. This was mentioned in the press, but not covered widely, and no one asked questions. What's the US President doing hanging out with the opposition party leader, on an official state visit?

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"Wow! Brazil is big." —George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Nov. 6, 2005

<<While we don`t have the proof..>>[insert random unsubstantiated conspiracy theory here]...

And we don't have proof that Hugo didn't fund the NDP, so I guess we will have to assume it to be true until proven otherwise.

<<...i wouldn`t be suprised at all if US oil money financed BOTH the liberals and conservatives.>>

except that the point of this story is Gore's uninformed rant about Harper. Remember, he was perfectly happy with the pathetic Chretien/Martin environmental record. He only started frothing at the mouth when Harper won.


<<Well, who here disagrees with the notion that US administrations have been either influencing or interfering (in Cdn and other elections)...for many, many years now?>>

I guess Gore would know? He was Vice President of the US for eight years.

<<It's worth noting that prior to our election, GW Bush, on his first official visit to Ottawa, broke protocol and had meetings with Stephen Harper.>>

It wasn't an "official visit". That's why the GG didn't greet him. It is a diplomatic technicality, but worth noting. The post 911, "moron" and other immature comments from our PMO ensured there would be no "official state visits" as long as the Libs were in power. Nevertheless, official visit or not, it is NOT a "breach of protocol" to meet with the leader of the opposition. In fact it is quite routine. The reverse is also true, opposition leaders also accompany the PM abroad. Harper and others were present at the D-Day anniversary ceremonies in Europe and toured Asia (where Harper ignored DFAIT advice to pay respects to a recently deceased Chinese dissident). Of course, both of these trips must have slipped Martin's mind. In the closing days of the campaign, he lied about Harper having never been off the continent to illustrate how scary he was.

And apparently it is not uncommon for a PM to divert his campaign jet to burn mucho fuel to use a former US President as a prop at an environmental conference.

btw: odd that the "oil and blood-soaked neocons running the show in DC" didn't install Harper in the previous election. Heh...maybe Carl Rove was the real mastermind of Adscam? I'm sure Gore would have released this missive given more time.

DSR,

I guess you missed Harper being interviewed on the CBC prior to the election. He was the one that admitted he had not travelled anywhere of note except inside Canada. He'd been to a couple of places in Europe and that was probably the trip he took with Martin. He said his wife had been many places around the world and he ....mumble, mumble, mumble....(one could conclude), left it up to her to inform him about the rest of the world!!!! So physically, yes, he has been over the Canadian border. Intellectually and emotionally? That's open for debate. We may be better off with his wife as the PM and that would stand true for many of our past PMs.

Gore has a much more credible bio than Bush, Harper, Rove, Cheney or Martin. In my opinion at least he did something more worthwhile in his life prior to entering politics.

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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche