The RCMP has labelled the “anti-petroleum”
movement as a growing and violent threat to Canada’s security, raising
fears among environmentalists that they face increased surveillance, and
possibly worse, under the Harper government’s new terrorism
legislation.
In highly charged language
that reflects the government’s hostility toward environmental
activists, an RCMP intelligence assessment warns that foreign-funded
groups are bent on blocking oil sands expansion and pipeline
construction, and that the extremists in the movement are willing to
resort to violence.
“There is a growing, highly organized and
well-financed anti-Canada petroleum movement that consists of peaceful
activists, militants and violent extremists who are opposed to society’s
reliance on fossil fuels,” concludes the report which is stamped
“protected/Canadian eyes only” and is dated Jan. 24, 2014. The report
was obtained by Greenpeace.
“If violent
environmental extremists engage in unlawful activity, it jeopardizes
the health and safety of its participants, the general public and the
natural environment.”
The government
has tabled Bill C-51, which provides greater power to the security
agencies to collect information on and disrupt the activities of
suspected terrorist groups. While Prime Minister Stephen Harper has
identified the threat as violent extremists motivated by radical Islamic
views, the legislation would also expand the ability of government
agencies to infiltrate environmental groups on the suspicion that they
are promoting civil disobedience or other criminal acts to oppose
resource projects.
The legislation
identifies “activity that undermines the security of Canada” as anything
that interferes with the economic or financial stability of Canada or
with the country’s critical infrastructure, though it excludes lawful
protest or dissent. And it allows the Canadian Security and Intelligence
Service to take measures to reduce what it perceives to be threats to
the security of Canada.
The British
Columbia Civil Liberties Association has already launched challenges to
the RCMP complaints commission and the Security Intelligence Review
Committee – which oversees the Canadian Security Intelligence Service –
over alleged surveillance of groups opposed to the construction of the
proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in B.C.
“These
kind of cases involving environmental groups – or anti-petroleum groups
as the RCMP likes to frame them – are really the sharp end of the stick
in terms of Bill C-51,” said Paul Champ, a civil liberties lawyer who
is handling the BCCLA complaints. “With respect to Bill C-51, I and
other groups have real concerns it is going to target not just
terrorists who are involved in criminal activity, but people who are
protesting against different Canadian government policies.”
RCMP
spokesman Sergeant Greg Cox insisted the Mounties do not conduct
surveillance unless there is suspicion of criminal conduct.
“As
part of its law enforcement mandate the RCMP does have the requirement
to identify and investigate criminal threats, including those to
critical infrastructure and at public events,” Sgt. Cox said in an
e-mailed statement. “There is no focus on environmental groups, but
rather on the broader criminal threats to Canada’s critical
infrastructure. The RCMP does not monitor any environmental protest
group. Its mandate is to investigate individuals involved in
criminality.”
But Sgt. Cox would not
comment on the tone of the January, 2014, assessment that suggests
opposition to resource development runs counter to Canada’s national
interest and links groups such as Greenpeace, Tides Canada and the
Sierra Club to growing militancy in the “anti-petroleum movement.”
The
report extolls the value of the oil and gas sector to the Canadian
economy, and adds that many environmentalists “claim” that climate
change is the most serious global environmental threat, and “claim” it
is a direct consequence of human activity and is “reportedly” linked to
the use of fossil fuels. It echoes concerns first raised by Finance
Minister Joe Oliver that environmental groups are foreign-funded and are
working against the interests of Canada by opposing development.
“This
document identifies anyone who is concerned about climate change as a
potential, if not actual – the lines are very blurry – ‘anti-petroleum
extremist’ looking to advance their ‘anti-petroleum ideology,’” said
Keith Stewart, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace.
“The
parts that are genuinely alarming about this document are how it lays
the groundwork for all kinds of state-sanctioned surveillance and dirty
tricks should C-51 be passed,” he said.
A
spokeswoman for Public Safety Canada said Bill C-51 does not change the
definition of what constitutes a threat to Canadian security, and added
CSIS does not investigate lawful dissent.
“CSIS
has a good track record of distinguishing genuine threats to the
security of Canada from other activities,” Public Safety Canada’s Josée
Sirois said. “The independent reports of the Security Intelligence
Review Committee attest to CSIS’s compliance with the law.”
