Jason Kenney declares war on environmentalists - 2019-07-22
Jason Kenney declares war on environmentalists July 22, 2019,
Alongside the recent surge in environmental activism in Canada and growing public concern over the effects of climate change, a potent countervailing force is emerging under recently elected premier Jason Kenney in Alberta: a pro-pipeline police state.
Alberta's United Conservative government is already aggressively restricting political discourse to guard the fossil fuel industry's privileges. Kenney has launched a $30 million "war room" tasked with silencing "the green left" and what he has elsewhere referred to as "foreign-funded radicals." His government has also announced a $2.5 million inquiry into an alleged "foreign-funded defamation campaign" against Alberta oil.
Kenney's militaristic language to paint environmentalists as counter-insurgents is the ideal pretext for curtailing freedoms. Oil's oligarchy has corroded democracy in the province. Now Kenney is further consolidating Alberta's democratic deficit.
