Tuesday’s letters: we need an investigation into oil and gas companies

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Re. “We can’t trust what Canadian environmental groups are saying,” David Staples, October 22.

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Steve Allan says that “he has not found any suggestion of wrongdoing by any individual or organization. No individual or organization… has done anything illegal. In fact, they have exercised their right to freedom of expression ”.

However, that doesn’t stop David Staples from admonishing environmental activists. Staples says, “yeah [activists] they want to be seen as credible, they better be completely transparent about who gives them money and pulls their strings. “He underscores the report’s recommendation that” we bring the same standards for nonprofits and public institutions that we have for corporations when it comes to transparency, accountability and governance. “

The same standards that we have for corporations? Say ah! There is an appallingly low level of standards regarding transparency, accountability and governance. How else can it be explained that even though ExxonMobil’s own scientists warned in 1981 that climate change could cause catastrophic effects, the company along with Chevron, BP, Shell and other fossil fuel producers worked for years on a public relations campaign questioning whether the warming is real.

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A word of caution must be issued, but it must go where it is most justified: the fossil fuel industry. Their shameless misrepresentation of climate change is what should be investigated and reported.

Peter Adamski, Edmonton

Higher Standards for Doubtful Nonprofits

Congratulations to David Staples for conducting a sober forensic analysis of Commissioner Allan’s report on what was found and what was not found. Unfortunately, the naysayers have rejected everything, which is no surprise. But Staples’s analysis, always flawless, pointed to two important findings and recommendations: $ 54 million had gone to Alberta’s oil industry; from any point of view, that’s a lot of money for many small nonprofits.

Allan’s top recommendation that we offer the same standards for nonprofits and other public institutions when it comes to transparency, accountability and governance. Is that possible in Canada? Many of us doubt it.

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BG MacKay, Edmonton

Nickel derailed by American-style politics

This latest election was Mike Nickel’s third kick to the cat for the mayor of Edmonton. I did not vote for him.
Interestingly, however, I voted for him the first two times. Why didn’t I vote for him this time?

Well, I don’t think your ideas and plans have changed. He is a fiscal conservative. That has attracted me to a certain extent. We need someone who can try to control spending when necessary. But it’s Mr. Nickel’s politics that bothers me. He seems to have taken seriously the example of right-wing politics south of the border. Confrontation, accusation, and rudeness are adjectives that I can easily apply to certain Republicans in the United States. Mike seems to have adopted that style. Often during his campaign, it was difficult to hear his ideas over the din of his attacks on other candidates.

I certainly don’t remember him behaving that way in his first two rounds. One can be a conservative without the low-key tactics shown in this last campaign.

Grant Peuramaki, Edmonton

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