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[Michael Matthys]

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In This Issue: ·       Action Alerts ·       Water ·       Media Release ·       Tar Sands ·       Government & Politics     Connect With Us:   Subscribe to our E-Sierran Emails by clicking here	Action Alerts Tell the UofA not to grant honorary degree to Nestlé chair Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. The University of Alberta plans to award an honorary degree to Peter Brabecl-Letmathe who has openly claimed his company is in talks with the Alberta government to adopt a water exchange market.   Attend award ceremony and tell Peter Brabeck-Letmathe he doesn’t deserve the degree and we don’t want a market solution for water allocation. March 1, 2012. Timms Centre for the Arts, 112 Street and 87 Ave, University of Alberta, Edmonton.   Water Video – Alternative Water Futures: The Need for non-market solutions to Alberta’s water crisis Jeremy Schmidt, Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario   Media Release Protect Woodland Caribou with science, says Sierra Club Canada OTTAWA – Today Sierra Club Canada formally submitted a response to the federal government’s proposed "Woodland Caribou Recovery Plan" on behalf of 2700 Canadian "radicals" and 300 "foreigners". "Woodland Caribou are declining as a result of habitat loss and disruption. Period. Killing wolves is not the solution to their recovery," said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. “There is no scientific evidence that slaughtering wolves will help the caribou population recover. The federal plan must be withdrawn and rewritten based on science.” Tar Sands Tar Sands impact posing a ‘financial risk’to Alberta, says PCOOTTAWA — Collateral damage from Canada's booming oilsands sector may be irreversible, posing a "significant environmental and financial risk to the province of Alberta," says a secret memorandum prepared for the federal government's top bureaucrat. The memorandum, released by the Privy Council Office through access to information legislation, also raises doubts about recent industry and government claims that oilsands companies are reducing heat-trapping gases produced by each barrel of oil. The industry has suggested a shift in oilsands extraction to use steam to remove synthetic crude oil from natural bitumen deposits on site can reduce land disruption and provide for reductions in energy and emissions. But the memo, prepared for Wayne Wouters, the clerk of the Privy Council Office — the lead department in the federal government's bureaucracy — said this shift is actually accelerating the industry's impact on climate change, with emissions growth projected to be greater over the next decade than all other Canadian economic sectors combined.   Are Canadian environmentalists a terrorist threat? In a report released yesterday outlining the federal government’s new counter-terrorism strategy, Public Safety Canada listed environmentalists among other “issue-based domestic extremists” that could pose a threat to Canadians. Responding to the report, Sierra Club Canada director John Bennett said this portrayal is aligned with officials’ attempts to silence environmental groups opposed to major energy projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline. “We are one of the few segments of Canadian society that has continually stood up to the present Conservative government and been able to be effective at raising issues," said Bennett. "As a result, they’ve decided that we’re political opponents rather than a part of the democratic dialogue. So this is just the next stage in these attacks.” . Government & Politics Canadian government is ‘muzzling its scientists’ The Canadian government has been accused of "muzzling" its scientists. Speakers at a major science meeting being held in Canada said communication of vital research on health and environment issues is being suppressed. But one Canadian government department approached by the BBC said it held the communication of science as a priority. Prof Thomas Pedersen, a senior scientist at the University of Victoria, said he believed there was a political motive in some cases. "The Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) is keen to keep control of the message, I think to ensure that the government won't be embarrassed by scientific findings of its scientists that run counter to sound environmental stewardship," he said.   Ottawa’s new anti-terrorism strategy lists eco-extremists as threats After vowing to take on radical environmentalists determined to stop the Northern Gateway pipeline, the Harper government has released a new anti-terrorism strategy that targets eco-extremists as threats. With his announcement this week, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has increased the concern among environmentalists that Ottawa regards them as implacable adversaries to be monitored and battled, rather than well-meaning advocates to be consulted. “This is just one more step in their attempt to marginalize the environmental movement and to quiet its voice,” John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada, said Friday. “It’s an indirect suggestion that somehow environmentalism is attached to terrorism and that’s just wrong.” Critics distressed over Tories’ plans to change environmental review processAmidst rising concerns around climate change and the controversial review of the Northern Gateway pipeline, the government’s proposed changes to Environmental Assessment legislation have many critics up in arms. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) is just one of several pieces of legislation up for review this year, along with proposed changes to the Criminal Code, immigration laws and the Copyright Act. So far, the suggested changes to Environmental Assessment legislation have been slammed by the Opposition, who say Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are “gutting” the system with detrimental budget cuts and time limitations on reviews.
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