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Fact-checking the RCMPs eco threat

The claim Canadians overwhelmingly support continued tar sands development. The report quotes a 2013 poll commissioned by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, the Canada West Foundation, the Federal Idea and the Mowat Centre that suggests more than 80 per cent of Canadians back tar sands development.

The reality According to the same poll, tar sands supporters are evenly divided on the pace of tar sands development, many believing it needs to be slowed. Also mentioned in the RCMP report: an Environics poll conducted for the Council of Canadians, which concludes that 62 per cent of Canadians support a moratorium on fracking for natural gas.

The claim Mainstream environmental groups in Canada are in the pocket of huge charities stateside.

The reality The amount received by Canadian environmental groups from U.S. philanthropic organizations, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund among them, adds up to some $190 million over the last decade, a much more modest sum than the RCMP is letting on. The big money from U.S. groups, some $300 to $400 million a year, is funding environmental opposition to tar sands development south of the border, namely against TransCanadas planned Keystone XL Pipeline.

The claim Money donated to mainstream environmental organizations is funding anti-tar-sands extremists.

The reality The report lumps together the activities of mainstream environmental groups like Greenpeace, Tides Canada and Sierra Club and those of extremist elements. But the single example highlighted by the RCMP in its report, a $27.3 million donation by Tides Canada to two coastal First Nations in BC in 2008, was actually for conservation planning projects and initiatives.

The claim According to the RCMP, some factions of the anti-petroleum movement have aligned themselves with violent aboriginal extremists, particularly in BC, Ontario and New Brunswick. The report says aboriginal extremists are using the internet to recruit and incite violence.

The reality But the threat from aboriginal protesters is grossly overstated. As the RCMP also notes in the report: In general, violent aboriginal extremists often do not have support within their communities, and traditional protest activity often is restricted to non-violent types of actions such as site blockades. Public Safety Canadas own assessment of domestic issue-based extremism concludes that those involved are a very small number in Canada. In a section entitled Criminal Actions Targeting The Canadian Petroleum Industry, the report cites seven instances since 2006.

The claim The threat of climate change from the petroleum industry, and tar sands expansion in particular, is perceived, not real.

The reality The RCMP report doesnt come right out and say environmentalists are blowing smoke on climate change, but it does indulge in a fair bit of climate change denial rhetoric, quoting the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the oil and gas industry lobby. And it characterizes the eco movements use of social media as part of a nefarious worldwide plot to recruit impressionable students each year to help save the planet. The report also quotes Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace activist who long ago became an advocate for resource industry interests. According to Moore, the enviro movement has got its priorities completely mixed up through the use of sensationalism, misinformation and downright lies.

enzom@nowtoronto.com | @enzodimatteo

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