P.R. Firm Urges TransCanada to Target Opponents of Its Energy East Pipeline
By Ian Austen
OTTAWA — The advice from a top American public relations firm was simple: A Canadian pipeline company should take aim at its opposition.
In detailed proposals submitted in May and August, the public relations firm Edelman outlined a plan to investigate groups that had opposed Energy East, a pipeline in development by TransCanada. Edelman urged TransCanada to develop its own sympathetic supporters and spread any unflattering findings about the opposition.
The Energy East pipeline, which would carry oil sands production to eastern Canada, has similarly faced criticism over its environmental impact and the potential danger from oil spills. Edelman, in its documents, proposes a campaign directed at opposition groups like the Council of Canadians and the David Suzuki Foundation, as well as a small community group in Ottawa that usually fights for more bike lanes and park enhancements.
In its proposal, Edelman proposed “a perpetual campaign to protect and enhance the value of the Energy East Pipeline and to help inoculate TransCanada from potential attacks in any arena,” according to the documents. The language, at times, invoked a military battle, one that would “add layers of difficulty for our opponents, distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources.”
TransCanada also is at a linguistic disadvantage in promoting its Energy East Pipeline in Francophone Quebec since few TransCanada employees speak French.
Mr. Millar said TransCanada did investigate opponents and their claims. He confirmed that the company had followed Edelman’s advice to create a network of allies. But Mr. Millar said TransCanada had rejected Edelman’s recommendation of using third parties in a campaign against opponents.
With Energy East, TransCanada is proposing to convert a natural gas pipeline to carry the heavy, oil-bearing bitumen, from the oil sands to refineries in Ontario and Quebec.
This it the standard formula for SLAPP
"Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation." tactics here in the United States where corporations use the legal system to intimidate and hamstring opponents of dirty industry projects.
With the Senate vote coming up Tuesday could these revelations become to be a major embarrassment for TranCanada?
The company also plans to extend the pipeline farther east and build a tanker port on the St. Lawrence River near Cacouna, Quebec. That would allow it to also send oil to export markets including the United States.
In its documents, Edelman recommends offsetting such concerns largely by emphasizing issues like the economic impact, including job creation.
So just trot out that old enticement and the rubes eyes will light up? Pacific Coast dwellers on both sides of the border don't welcome the prospect of turning the Salish Sea into a major conduit for the dirty energy for the Pacific Rim.
The SLAPP tactics have already been employed in Western Canada against opponents of Kinder Morgan's proposed adding a new "Twin" pipeline for bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands over the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver named the TransMountain pipeline, transforming Vancouver into a major oil export terminal.
Canada's Trans Mountain Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion is "Keystone XL 2.0"
Tankers with the San Juan Islands in the Background
International Rally over Climate Change and protection of the Salish Sea