Thomas Mulcair & David Eby speaking at a private gathering at eco-lobbyist Joel Solomon’s home…
Update: I just found an article linked on ExiledOnline that’s further demonstrates the dangers of the US State Department- apparently Secretary of State Susan Rice is an investor in the tarsands…
Sandy Garossino has done another hit piece on Vivian Krause today. Garossino was a little less catty this time- thankfully, she avoided getting deeply personal like she has in the past. That said, her use of melodramatic phrases to describe Krause (e.g. “hyper-ventilate”, “hairpin turns” & “shadowy Americans”) was pretty much the same style of attack. You see, Garossino likes to fight dirty and discredit people- rather than honestly debating the facts.
And, it seems to me that she has a whole lot of love for American billionaires…
Garossino’s article was in response to a story Krause had published in the Financial Post last week. Krause’s story was a solid piece of work that outlined some of the relationships and funding of American lobbyists working on environmental issues in Canada. She’s talking about the 1%- families and organizations including Rockefeller, Pew, Hewlett, Packard, and TIDES Canada.
It was in Krause’s typical writing style- neutrally outlining her research without getting over-dramatic. Garossino’s response was anything but- in many ways, it was like high school bullying. Rather than beginning by explaining where she disagrees with Krause- Garossino instead jumps into three paragraphs that were carefully (though not so well) crafted to discredit and ridicule her.
At this point, one thing is already very clear- Krause conducts herself with class, Garossino simply comes across as an angry taxi dispatcher…
I don’t care- just got my campaign cheque from Joel Solomon!
Finally, on her fourth paragraph, Garossino starts digging into the meat. She begins by addressing Krause’s mention of the Consultative Group for Biological Diversity. Krause said nothing about this group except for one simple fact- almost all of the US Foundations she’s been writing about are members of it. But, Garossino twists things around and tries to discredit Krause with some misleading language:
“Consider Krause’s focus on CGBD (the Consultative Group for Biological Diversity), an apparently shady umbrella group of American environmentalists convened out of the U.S. State Department 25 years ago.”
The fact is, Krause not once implied that this group was shady- she simply laid out the facts. Personally, I felt that Krause was too reserved. I think Garossino knows what I’m talking about too- because she left out an important point. The CGBD wasn’t started by the US State Department, it was started by USAID- an agency of the State Department.
Why’s this so important? Well, it’s commonly known that USAID has been involved with intelligence work. I knew USAID people when I lived in Moscow- there’s no question to me that they there for political reasons. The Russians think so too- they recently kicked USAID out of Russia for ‘meddling’ with internal affairs. And, it’s not only Putin who’s suspicious- Pakistan, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and a host of other countries the US deems as important to their security.
Is Garossino so naïve that she believes the State department doesn’t deem Canada important to US security?
Many of organizations working with CGBD work actively with USAID- many are funded by them. Yes, that’s right- the billionaires are taking handouts from the US State department. Groups like the CGBD are roundtables where they make strategic plans with the US government. Families like the Rockefeller’s and the Pew’s have been on these foundations for generations- ‘new money’ like the Hewett’s & Packard’s have joined more recently.
HP is a major US Military & Government contractor…
Have a look at this statement from Krause’s story:
“CGBD members have more than US$50-billion in assets. They granted a total of US$3.2 billion in 2010; they can’t be out-spent.”
Next, have a look at how Garossino twisted it:
“As it happens, the CGBD isn’t a granting body at all, but a professional association for foundation executives and trustees in the conservation field. Its participants include the Gates Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. & Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, the Bloomberg Philanthropies, and many other trusted household names.”
Krause never said or implied that the CGBD was a granting body. From my interpretation, what she was saying is that a group of America’s richest people are working together with the State Department. And, at the same time, they are here in Canada spending 100’s of millions of dollars lobbying our government and influencing Canadian policy.
Since the late 1990’s these organizations have invested over $450 million on their lobbying. Garossino tries (poorly) to attempt to minimize the impact of this number by explaining how many organizations take money from foreign donors. I’m not sure how that’s relevant- the examples she gave (e.g. Ottawa Food Bank) aren’t as focussed on lobbying as the organizations Krause is writing about.
A more relevant way to explain the impact of $450 million would be to break it down to the $13 spent for every man, woman and child in Canada. For some context, compare it to the $2 per vote given to political parties at each federal election. Remember- the majority of people in Canada don’t vote.
That’s a lot of money, and it can buy a lot of influence. If you have any doubt, have a look at the picture at the top of this article- it’s Thomas Mulcair & Vancouver NDP Candidate David Eby at a Joel Solomon’s home (Chair of TIDES). When you have millions of dollars to give away, politicians make house calls and give speeches to your guests.
How many Canadians have that kind of access?
I have to thank Sandy for bringing it to my attention that the Gates Family Foundation is part of the CGBD, it helped me make an important connection related to my story asking if pipeline protesters are Obama’s useful idiots.
You see, among the many people who would profit from the cancellation of Canadian pipelines, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will probably make the most. Without pipelines, the bitumen will be carried by train. Gates owns a big chunk of CN Rail, Buffett owns a big chunk of BNSF. Both railways are currently expanding their fleet of tankers.
So how does Warren Buffett fit into the story here in Canada? Well, I’m still working on that- along with dozens of other researchers. But, a tweet sent out by Garossino yesterday may give us a hint:
Sometimes a single tweet can say a whole lot. First, Garossino promotes Buffett- adding the phrase “common sense mogul” to her tweet (that wasn’t in the story). Next, notice who re-tweeted her message- none other than Joel Solomon himself! Of course, this isn’t proof of (to use Garossino’s words) a great ‘conspiracy’- but, it does raise one’s eyebrows.
Joel Solomon represents American billionaires- doesn’t it make you slightly uncomfortable to know that Mulcair & Eby are doing private gigs in his home? I shared this picture with 5 people- even the person who supports Mulcair felt uncomfortable with this situation. David Eby has received campaign donations from Solomon- one can guess that Garossino wants to jump on that gravy train one day.
Let’s be honest- it’s not a question of ‘if’ the American government is making efforts to influence Canadian politics- it’s inevitable that is happening. Richard Fadden, the former head of CSIS warned us about this- saying that some BC government officials were being influenced by foreign governments. This isn’t a theory.
Organizations like Rockefeller, Ford & MacArthur were all involved in the development of the Marshall Plan after WWII. They were active in reshaping East Europe after the wall fell (with George Soros). Now, Canada is at the centre of their attention- we’re a big country, rich in natural resources, and small population- ripe for the picking.
If Garossino doesn’t understand this- she’s hardly qualified to hold any public office- she should stick to the taxi business…
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Interesting stuff – Krause is asking some legitimate questions. When people pay money for something, they invariably have a reason. That reason may not be ulterior; it may be altruistic, but there is a reason. Why those particular US donors are interested in giving money to those particular Canadian environmental groups is worth examining.
Ms Garrosino’s hysteria about the questions being asked makes her look rather foolish at best. She comes off like someone very concerned that something she doesn’t want to have exposed will come to light.
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That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking. TIDES has an alarming lack of transparency- this is always troublesome. They need to change their way of doing business- or, we must regulate them to change.
Beautiful… again!
Your rezoning and dots connecting… impeccable.
Liked the USAID angle and Moscow, I know what you’re talking about.
Mulcair and Eby sucking a sock inside the house of Tides Foundation Chair… unacceptable.
George Soros & Comp in Europe, ha, now there’s a financial terrorist all right, ask the Russians.
Lady Garossino… big, big, huge disappointment, not that it wasn’t unseen before, or unheard of, but still, she came into the political scene as an independent, sporting the anti-bullying color… think Pink!
IMHO, this can be described in one word only… “Solomonization”.
Pity… From Hero to Zero ,to the underworld of charitable manipulation and political charlatanism.
Vivian, on the other hand, now there’s a classy lady! :-)
Cheers, GR
Sandy Garossino is using emotional arguments. Typical when facts and logic are not on your side. The trouble is emotional arguments only work on people who already share your point of view. So it amounts to little more than rabble rousing. To turn people you need to use actual logic. Smarmy comments are not going to convince most people that allowing foreign billionaires and the US state department meddle in our affairs is a good idea.