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With his customary blend of leftist hysteria, hyperbole, and sheer ignorance, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has accused the oil industry of financially backing the Tories and their "ultra-conservative leader" to protect its stake in Alberta's lucrative oilsands. The hyper-ventilating contender for the far left [where he is matched against Howard Dean] leadership in the Democratic Party warned that prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord .
Gore has made the baseless accusations that are his trademark since his coming-out party as a far-left leadership candidate recently at Constitution Hall in DC, where he castigated President Bush for defending the U.S. from terrorism by eavesdropping on overseas phone calls.
In an article in the Calgary Herald, his intemperate and ill-considered remarks were reported thus:
"The election in Canada was partly about the tar sands projects in Alberta," Gore said Wednesday while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
"And the financial interests behind the tar sands project poured a lot of money and support behind an ultra-conservative leader in order to win the election . . . and to protect their interests."
Darcie Park, spokeswoman for oilsands giant Suncor Energy, said she's taken aback by Gore's remarks and hopes they don't resonate with Canadians.
"Our company just doesn't do business that way. We're really puzzled about where these comments came from," she said.
"Canadians understand how elections work in Canada and understand there are these very tight restrictions around what individuals and companies can contribute to individual parties or campaigns."
The federal Elections Act limits how much money individuals, corporations and unions can donate to political parties. Individuals are allowed to give as much as $5,000 a year, while companies and unions are capped at $1,000 a year.
In their election platform, the Conservatives promised to further limit individual donations to a maximum of $1,000 and ban all donations from corporations, unions and organizations.
Parties and candidates are required to make public any contributions exceeding $200.
Gore believes that the reason the Canadian press did not realize that there was a huge conspiracy afoot to promote big oil was because of yet another conspiracy:
Gore believes the issue of the oilsands and the sway he contends the industry holds with Harper didn't garner news coverage during the election because "media concentration has taken a toll on democratic principles around the world, and Canada is no exception."
Luckily, the Canadians are extremists only in their moderation, as the saying goes, and comments from American politicians about Canadian politics are disdained by the average Canadian, just as Americans discount comments from north of the border concerning U.S. policy.
Gore appears as clueless as former Canadian PM Chretien about the effect of words across borders.
Or perhaps gasbag Gore was speaking to an American audience without regard to facts or regard for what Canadians might think about his accusations?
I presume it’s the latter.
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