FW: What Harper and Putin have in common
Robert Weekley ACN
Just what’s in store for people who are concerned for the Future of a survivable environment.
I remain,
Robert Weekley
From: Jeremy Waiser -
Avaaz.org [mailto:av...@avaaz.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014
7:31 AM
To: robwe...@acn.net
Subject: What Harper and Putin
have in common
Dear friends,
|
|
Our government is taking a page out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook to
silence the country’s top environmental organizations. This could be a death blow to the people who protect
our forests and freshwater, but a massive outcry can still stop it.
Conservative organizers are moving to block Canadians from giving money to the
organizations fighting the PM’s tar sands sellout. A shady group called “Ethical Oil” with direct ties to the Prime
Minister’s office is leading the charge. And guess who the President
is -- Sun News’ Ezra Levant, the man who just complained that we don’t put
activists in jail like Putin does in Russia.
Now a decision on the future of environmental non-profits in the budget could
be made in days – let’s raise an outcry to shine a media spotlight on the
Conservative Party’s Putin-like tactics. Sign now and share with everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_enviro_crackdown_12/?bonnWbb&v=36188
We’ve seen a disturbing pattern by our government of stifling dissent, using
omnibus bills to carve up environmental regulations, and attacking environmental
organizations as “radical” and “agents of foreign interests.” That’s what these
groups get for daring to raise public awareness on issues like climate change
and the tar sands. And now the Finance
Minister has directly threatened the groups about their political activity.
Already the Canada Revenue Agency is auditing Oxfam, Environmental Defense, the
David Suzuki Foundation and more. The government says it’s not engineering a
witch hunt. But a group called “Ethical Oil” started by Alykhan Velshi, Harper’s
Director of Issues Management and headed by Ezra Levant is paying Conservative
lawyers to push the CRA into the intimidating audits.
This would be par for the course in Putin’s Russia, but here we’re supposed to welcome debate and dissent, not turn
the screws on our NGOs. Working to prevent environmental damage is
incredibly important charitable work. Let’s raise our voices now to make sure
it doesn’t disappear. Sign now:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_enviro_crackdown_12/?bonnWbb&v=36188
Avaaz members across Canada
have long fought to protect the environment from government abuse, from
supporting Neil Young and the Athabasca First Nation to protect their land to
speaking out against harmful developments in our national parks.
With hope and determination,
Jeremy, Emma, Ari, Melanie, Ricken and the entire Avaaz team
PS - Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community. It's easy to
get started - click to start yours now and win on any issue - local,
national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?ps
MORE INFORMATION
7 environmental charities face Canada Revenue Agency audits (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/07/canada-revenue-audit-green-charities_n_4742151.html
Canada
revenue audit of green groups raises spectre of intimidation: Editorial (The
Star)
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/02/10/canada_revenue_audit_of_green_groups_raises_spe...
What's at stake if environmental charities are silenced (Environmental Defence)
http://environmentaldefence.ca/blog/whats-stake-if-environmental-charities-are-silenced
|
Support the Avaaz Community! |
|
We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way. |
|
|
Avaaz.org is a 33-million-person global campaign network that works
to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making.
("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many
languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread
across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about
some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on
Facebook or Twitter.
You are getting this message because you signed "Poisoning Canada's water"
on 2011-07-08 using the email address robwe...@acn.net.
To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add av...@avaaz.org to
your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other
personal information, contact
us, or simply go
here to unsubscribe.
To
contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this
email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or
call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).