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The buck stops where?

"We do not want projects that are safe, generate thousands of new jobs and open up new export markets, to die in the approval phase due to unnecessary delays.
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"We do not want projects that are safe, generate thousands of new jobs and open up new export markets, to die in the approval phase due to unnecessary delays."

"Anyone looking at the record of approvals for certain major projects across Canada cannot help but come to the conclusion that many of these projects have been delayed too long."

Funny thing about the clarion cry of Canada's natural resources minister, Joe Oliver's open letter, warning that foreign environmental radicals — surprised he didn't call them terrorists... but what the heck, this is only the opening salvo — were out to scotch the Northern Gateway oil pipeline: Nowhere in his dire warning was there even a hint the pipeline wouldn't be built. Delayed, maybe. Delayed to the point of "economically unviable," perhaps. Not built? Not on your life.

The pipeline, from the Alberta tarsands wasteland to B.C.'s own environmental garden spot, Kitimat, will inevitably be built. The process from now until then — largely a matter of co-opting various first nations, ignoring environmental entreaties and spreading the Con's version of the Big Lie — will, to a large degree, parrot Shaw's famous quip on propriety, "We've already established what you are, ma'am. Now we're just haggling over the price."

For if there's one thing the blue-eyed sheiks and the sharp-eyed Conservatives fully know and bank on, it's that we are all, to a greater or lesser degree, whores when it comes to energy and money. At the end of the day, Northern Gateway is all about both. The "approval" process is just the sideshow.

Alberta's got oil. The whole world wants oil. It really doesn't matter whether it's the dirtiest oil in the world or "ethical" oil. By the time it comes out of a gas pump and into your Hummer or Prius, oil's oil and even the most ardent organic, free-range, cruelty-free, locavore doesn't give more than passing thought to where it came from, how it was extracted or who might have been killed, exploited or marginalized to get it... especially if they can save three cents a litre.

So what's the big deal about Northern Gateway? Is it the fact it will cut a swath through northern B.C. wilderness so rugged and untouched that virtually none of us will ever set foot in it? Well, yes. While it may only be an abstract concept, untouched wilderness is one of those warm and fuzzies people enjoy having around, no matter how remote, and appreciate even more because they know it drives the captains of industry and exploitation crazy. Bonus!

Is it that it'll threaten the spirit bears of the great bear rainforest who will all look more like their black bear brothers after the first supertanker spills its guts somewhere south of Kitimat on its journey to fuel the enlightened government limos of China? Sure, why not? Hell, sprit bears are at least as cuddly as baby harp seals and they'd never think of threatening the livelihood of coastal fishermen.

Is it the likelihood various first nations claiming rights to the land being crossed by the pipeline will be exploited and tricked into relinquishing their ancestral birthright for a pittance? Well, no. Don't fool yourself. They'll manage to take care of themselves. There's more than enough dough to grease their wheels in this deal.

The big deal here is that regardless of the fact we may all be whores, we really don't like being called whores and we really, really don't like the fact our government is slowly but surely reducing all of us to lower-class entities. After all, we're Canadian. We're more enlightened, more nurturing, more social, more caring. We don't believe the highest embodiment of humanity is the ability to turn a bigger profit. We don't trust success and wealth and conspicuous consumption... unless it's acquired through dint of good old-fashion luck, like winning the lotto.

But Harpo's government has made it very clear that people, and peoples' individual and collective rights, matter less in his Canada than the Economy. The Economy is the new temple at which we pray. It is the highest ideal. It is to be nurtured and it is to be protected from any and all threats. It is the human accomplishment that transcends its creators.

If lowly workers deign to ask for more and threaten to strike to get it, the Harperions will smite them a mighty blow for daring to threaten the Economy. "Get back to work," the legislation destroying their collective bargaining rights will say. While all levels of government will happily bestow upon themselves increasingly larger slices of the pie, they'll force teachers and public workerbees to take the crumbs because to do otherwise would threaten the Economy. And let us not forget, they enjoy even greater protections than those of us labouring for private enterprise.

It will not surprise me in the least if, when, some day soon, this government manages to enshrine economic and corporate rights into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a higher level of rights than those enjoyed by mere people. Far fetched? Hardly. The U.S. Supreme Court elevated corporations above people in last year's Citizens United decision when it declared they weren't constrained by campaign finance laws the way people were. If we have the stomach for it, we can watch the results play out in the presidential primaries going on south of the border. Want to buy a candidate and political influence. The tables are wide-open, belly up.

Personally, I don't mind being a whore. I object to being a subclass of economic and corporate interests though. I object to a majority government, in name only, riding roughshod over anyone who wants to voice legitimate concerns about what it's doing. I object to a government who routinely ignores science and academic advice, choosing instead economic expedience, and then has the Goebbelian chutzpah to say their decision to build Northern Gateway must be, "...based on science and the facts." and not slowed down in the least by the rantings of radical, foreign-funded, environmentalists.

Ironically, it turns out Enbridge, the corporation that wants to build the pipeline, embodies all the aspects the Harperions view as exemplary attributes of citizenship. As they say in the opening words on their website, "At Enbridge we pride ourselves on our commitment to corporate social responsibility and we adhere to a strong set of corporate values."

Corporate values?

Damn near brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? This is what we're reduced to. This is the future. People serving corporate values. Human values? Don't ask, you naïve whore. Just get to work and keep your foreign, radical mouths shut. We got bidnez to do.