Canadian Politics and Oil

Al Gore weighs in on Canadian politics:

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has accused the oil industry of financially backing the Tories and their "ultra-conservative leader" to protect its stake in Alberta's lucrative oilsands.

Canadians, Gore said, should vigilantly keep watch over prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord -- an international agreement to combat climate change.

The shoot-from-the-hip accusations of former Vice President Gore reminded me of the facts of the matter in regards to Canadian politics and "big" oil.

- Jean Chrétien was Prime Minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003 - a time frame that encompasses most of the time that Al Gore was in office as Vice President of the United States.

- No "big" oil company had closer ties to Saddam Hussein than France's TotalFinaElf. The biggest shareholder in TotalFinaElf is Montreal's Paul Desmarais, whose youngest son Andre Desmarais is married to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's daughter (I'm not making up the name) France Chrétien.

So we have a past Canadian Prime Minister with without a doubt ties to a oil company that was neck-deep in the corruption that came part and parcel of dealing with Saddam Hussein and yet neither the Clinton Administration nor the Vice President at the time has ever spoke out against or about these connections. Now on the heels of the Canadadians electing a Conservative - Al Gore makes unfounded accusations about having to keep tab on a Canadian Prime Minister and his connections to an oil company?

Al Gore - at long last have you no shame?

HT Betsy's Page for the link.

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