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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FELDSTED -- Public relations campaigns are designed to shape our views and thinking. They are aimed at our feelings and sensibilities rather than at our logic and reason

 

Have you ever wondered why pipelines are considered a horrible environmental blight in Canada, but nowhere else in the world?

The answer is simple ... Canada cannot market its oil and gas products without pipelines. If some people want to keep Canada out of participating in the world petroleum markets, demonizing pipelines makes it impossible to extend or build new pipelines to seaports and domestic markets and the blockade mission is accomplished.

The highly successful environmental push to block Canada’s petroleum industry growth and with it a booming economy, full employment and billions for research into more efficient and effective ways to burn petroleum products more cleanly is a successful public relations campaign that has very little basis in truth.

It is not the first time we have been hoaxed by industrialists and investors protecting their profits and influence.

Consider alcohol advertising prior to our adding up the carnage on our streets when inebriated drivers take the wheel. Think about tobacco advertising before we connected smoking and lung cancer. Consider advertising for a diabetes medication that was prominent for years until it was linked to deterioration of kidney functions.

Advertising (public relations) campaigns are designed to shape our views and thinking. They are aimed at our feelings and sensibilities rather than at our logic and reason. It is incredible that adult Canadians accepted that 17-year-old Greta Thunberg brought an important message respecting climate change to us.

Have we become that gullible?

An instinctual hatred of pipelines is a conditioned response to the wider public relations campaign of vilifying carbon products, not because they are harmful, but because we are much more easily manipulated, regulated and taxed if we are convinced that we should be fearful for our future.

As the years pass, and the dire predictions of global warming / climate change catastrophe fails to materialize we are beginning to realize we have been deceived. That, is fraught with difficulty, as no one cares to admit that he or she has been hoodwinked.

In recent weeks, we saw a variety of indigenous and academic persons interviewed respecting pipeline protests. Listening carefully, one can identify the scripts that form part of any full press public relations campaign. The people motivated by the campaign must stay “on script” for the campaign to succeed, hence activists are armed with talking points. 

One giveaway is that when an activist or academic is asked a question he responds with the talking points he has memorized.


If you choose to believe that a half-dozen traditional (hereditary) indigenous chiefs in northern British Columbia created the arguments they put forth --  respecting traditional indigenous sovereignty -- without spending large sums of money on research, organized a cross country media campaign to keep their message front and center, for all but the first six days of February, you are welcome to your delusions.

Maintaining a public relations campaign for more than a few days is prohibitively expensive. When something looks suspicious to us, follow the money. Where is the money coming from that drives this public relations campaign? Who stand to gain by keeping Canada out of the world petroleum market?

Claims by our government that it is committed to reducing world carbon emissions are rubbish. While our government is complicit in keeping Canada out of the world petroleum market, Canada has no control over petroleum demand and supply or more accurately energy demand and supply.

Developing nation, who outnumber developed nations need energy to grow and prosper. It takes energy to light houses, provide a water supply, pump sewage, build highways and rail networks to move raw and finished goods to market, distribute imports, run mills and factories. Much of that energy comes from coal. Burning diesel or even better, natural gas reduces carbon output.

Like most ideologues, our federal government is hoist on its own petard; 


Canadian oil and gas can help to reduce carbon emissions overseas by replacing coal plants and our clean technologies can even further reduce harmful industrial output. The environmental public relations effort is highly misleading in its zeal to demonize carbon while excluding and ignoring all other emissions.

Carbon dioxide is an odourless, colourless gas that does not cause or contribute to the smog that is choking many cities. Canada’s clean technologies can help to alleviate industrial and public service emissions and reduce smog. However, we need the robust economy development our resources will produce, to develop, improve and export those technologies.

Climate change is real and ongoing. However, the cataclysmic climate change of the environmentalist public relations lobby is based on fiction to, induce fear in our society and, make us beg our government to save us without regard to cost.

The truly frightening thing is that it very nearly worked.
 

John Feldsted
Political Commentator, Consultant & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba

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