Harper government's extensive spying on anti-oilsands groups revealed in FOIs
Posted: Nov 19th, 2013
The federal government has been vigorously spying on anti-oil sands
activists and organizations in BC and across Canada since last December,
documents obtained
under the Access to Information Act show. Not only is the federal
government subsidizing the energy industry in underwriting their costs,
but deploying public safety resources as a de-facto 'insurance policy'
to ensure that federal strategies on proposed pipeline projects are
achieved, these documents indicate.........
Before the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel hearings on the
proposed Enbridge oil pipeline, the NEB coordinated the gathering of
intelligence on opponents to the oil sands. The groups of interest are
independent advocacy organizations that oppose the Harper government's
policies and work for environmental protections and democratic rights,
including Idle No More, ForestEthics, Sierra Club, EcoSociety, LeadNow, Dogwood Initiative, Council of Canadians and the People's Summit....................
In the emails, Richard "Rick" Garber, the NEB's "Group Leader of
Security", marshals security and intelligence operations between
government agencies and private interests, and says in a January 31,
2013 email that the NEB "Security Team has consulted today with Canadian
Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) at national and regional
levels; RCMP at national, regional and local levels."
The memo was from Tim O'Neil, Senior Criminal Intelligence Research
Specialist with the RCMP, and then circulated to the NEB and associated
stakeholders by Garber.
"There continues to be sustained opposition to the Canadian petroleum and pipeline industry," O'Neil said. "Opposition is most notable in British Columbia, with protests focused on the: Enbridge Northern Gateway; ......
"There continues to be sustained opposition to the Canadian petroleum and pipeline industry," O'Neil said. "Opposition is most notable in British Columbia, with protests focused on the: Enbridge Northern Gateway; ......
"What is particularly chilling about the Harper administration's
approach is the conversion of government agencies to private spy
agencies for private sector corporations," Green Party Leader, Elizabeth
May said, upon learning about the emails. "What is unacceptable is the
marginalization, demonizing, and threat of criminalization of healthy
debate in a democracy."
On May 23, 2013, Natural Resources Canada hosted a 'Classified Briefing for Energy & Utilities Sector Stakeholders' in collaboration with CSIS and the RCMP at CSIS's headquarters in Ottawa...
On May 23, 2013, Natural Resources Canada hosted a 'Classified Briefing for Energy & Utilities Sector Stakeholders' in collaboration with CSIS and the RCMP at CSIS's headquarters in Ottawa...
Given proof of CSIS and RCMP intelligence resources being
afforded to the NEB, and evidence of disclosure across the private
sector, it is undetermined how much information is being provided to
corporations such as Enbridge and TransCanada Corporation, and to what
extent international entities such as CNOOC are also benefiting.
Since coming to power, Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, has used his government apparatus to serve a natural resources development agenda, the Guardian recently wrote, "while creating sweeping domestic surveillance programs that have kept close tabs on indigenous and environmental opposition and shared intelligence with companies.
"Harper has transformed Canada's foreign policy to offer full diplomatic backing to foreign mining and oil projects, tying aid pledges to their advancement and jointly funding ventures with companies throughout Africa, South America and Asia."
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/harper-governments-extensive-spying-anti-oilsands-groups-revealed-fois?page=0,0
_________
Go read the entire article, be prepared to be shocked, Stephen Harper is fully owned and controlled by multi-national oil and energy companies..
Stephen Harper has turned Canada into a police state, he spies on you, on the internet, Harper wants to read your emails, listen to your phone calls, Stephen Harper wants to demonize and jail anyone who stands in the way of oil companies..
As you know Stephen Harper directed the Canada Revenue Agency(the taxman) to audit every environmental group, he wasted $millions of dollars on a witch hunt and found nothing!!!
http://desmog.ca/2013/07/21/harper-s-enemy-strategy-what-nixon-only-dreamed-doing
This is one more reason why the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project is dead..
And why Stephen Harper and his convict party will be punted from office in the next general federal election..
And don`t expect Sun News or any look-the-other-way-when-it-comes-to-Stephen Harper bloggers to report on this except maybe to deflect from the truth, ...After all, bashing the NDP, bashing Mulcair and calling Trudeau names like demon spawn and shiny pony is far more important than reporting on what those in charge are doing to our country..
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2013/11/open-letter-to-christy-clark-and.html
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
Since coming to power, Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, has used his government apparatus to serve a natural resources development agenda, the Guardian recently wrote, "while creating sweeping domestic surveillance programs that have kept close tabs on indigenous and environmental opposition and shared intelligence with companies.
"Harper has transformed Canada's foreign policy to offer full diplomatic backing to foreign mining and oil projects, tying aid pledges to their advancement and jointly funding ventures with companies throughout Africa, South America and Asia."
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/harper-governments-extensive-spying-anti-oilsands-groups-revealed-fois?page=0,0
_________
Go read the entire article, be prepared to be shocked, Stephen Harper is fully owned and controlled by multi-national oil and energy companies..
Stephen Harper has turned Canada into a police state, he spies on you, on the internet, Harper wants to read your emails, listen to your phone calls, Stephen Harper wants to demonize and jail anyone who stands in the way of oil companies..
As you know Stephen Harper directed the Canada Revenue Agency(the taxman) to audit every environmental group, he wasted $millions of dollars on a witch hunt and found nothing!!!
http://desmog.ca/2013/07/21/harper-s-enemy-strategy-what-nixon-only-dreamed-doing
Harper government estimates doubling spending on audits of charities
http://o.canada.com/business/money/opposition-brands-canada-revenue-agency-spending-on-audits-of-charities-a-witch-hunt/
This is one more reason why the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project is dead..
And why Stephen Harper and his convict party will be punted from office in the next general federal election..
And don`t expect Sun News or any look-the-other-way-when-it-comes-to-Stephen Harper bloggers to report on this except maybe to deflect from the truth, ...After all, bashing the NDP, bashing Mulcair and calling Trudeau names like demon spawn and shiny pony is far more important than reporting on what those in charge are doing to our country..
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2013/11/open-letter-to-christy-clark-and.html
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
13 comments:
You are a one man wrecking crew, do we even live in Canada anymore?
Thanks so much for reporting on these scandals.
"Stephen Harper Has No Allegiance To Canada Or Canadians, Harper`s Only Allegiance Is To An Independent and Separate Western Canada"
There, fixed that for you.
Sad though it is; we're better to face it if we're going to have a chance against it.
This is the twilight of the democracies. The darkness draws near and the fascists are looming in the shadows waiting to seize total control.
The lines are being drawn more clearly everyday.
Not only are big brother states surveilling us, there are also myriad private parties capable of watching our every move and keystroke, too.
From The Guardian:
Private firms selling mass surveillance systems around world, documents show.
One Dubai-based firm offers DIY system similar to GCHQ's Tempora programme, which taps fibre-optic cables.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/18/private-firms-mass-surveillance-technologies/print
Private firms are selling spying tools and mass surveillance technologies to developing countries with promises that "off the shelf" equipment will allow them to snoop on millions of emails, text messages and phone calls, according to a cache of documents published on Monday.
The papers show how firms, including dozens from Britain, tout the capabilities at private trade fairs aimed at offering nations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East the kind of powerful capabilities that are usually associated with government agencies such as GCHQ and its US counterpart, the National Security Agency.
The market has raised concerns among human rights groups and ministers, who are poised to announce new rules about the sale of such equipment from Britain.
"The government agrees that further regulation is necessary," a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said. "These products have legitimate uses … but we recognise that they may also be used to conduct espionage."
The documents are included in an online database compiled by the research watchdog Privacy International, which has spent four years gathering 1,203 brochures and sales pitches used at conventions in Dubai, Prague, Brasilia, Washington, Kuala Lumpur, Paris and London. Analysts posed as potential buyers to gain access to the private fairs.
The database, called the Surveillance Industry Index, shows how firms from the UK, Israel, Germany, France and the US offer governments a range of systems that allow them to secretly hack into internet cables carrying email and phone traffic.
The index has details from 338 companies, including 77 from the UK, offering a total of 97 different technologies.
One firm says its "massive passive monitoring" equipment can "capture up to 1bn intercepts a day". Some offer cameras hidden in cola cans, bricks or children's carseats, while one manufacturer turns cars or vans into surveillance control centres.
There is nothing illegal about selling such equipment, and the companies say the new technologies are there to help governments defeat terrorism and crime.
More from above:
"Another firm selling similar equipment is VASTech, based in South Africa, which has a system called Zebra. Potential buyers are told it has been designed to help "government security agencies face huge challenges in their combat against crime and terrorism".
VASTech says Zebra offers "access to high volumes of information generated via telecommunication services for the purposes of analysis and investigation".
It has been designed to "intercept all content and metadata of voice, SMS, email and fax communications on the connected network, creating a rich repository of information".
A spokesman for the company said: "VASTech produces products for governmental law enforcement agencies. These products have the primary goal of reducing specifically cross-border crimes such as child pornography, human trafficking, drug smuggling, weapon smuggling, money laundering, corruption and terrorist activities. We compete internationally and openly against several suppliers of similar systems.
"We only supply legal governments, which are not subjected to international sanctions. Should their status change in this regard, we hold the right to withdraw our supplies and support unilaterally.""
What's on offer.
Some companies offer a range of spy equipment that would not look out of place in a James Bond film
Spy vans
Ordinary vans, cars and motorbikes can be customised to offer everything a spy could need. Tiny cameras and microphones are hidden in wing mirrors, headlights and even the makers' logo. Vehicles can also be fitted with the latest mass surveillance technology, allowing them to intercept, assess and store a range of digital communications from the surrounding area.
Hidden cameras
The range of objects that can hide high-quality cameras and recording equipment appears almost limitless; from a box of tissues giving a 360-degree view of the room, to a child's car seat, a brick and a key fob. Remote controls allow cameras to follow targets as they move around a room and have a powerful zoom to give high definition close-ups.
Recorders
As with cameras recording equipment is getting more sophisticated and more ubiquitous. From cigarette lighters to pens their are limitless ways to listen in on other people's conversations. One firm offers a special strap microphone that straps to the wearer's would be spies' back and records conversations going on directly behind them. According to the brochure: "[This] is ideal because people in a crowd think that someone with their back turned can't hear their conversation.. Operatives can work much closer to their target."
Handheld 'biometric cameras'
This system, made by a UK firm, is currently being used by British forces in Afghanistan to help troops identify potential terrorists. The brochure for the Mobile Biometric Platform says: "Innocent civilian or Insurgent? Not Certain? Our systems are." It adds: "The MBP is tailored for military use and enables biometric enrolment and identification of finger, face and iris against on board watchlists in real time from live or forensic data."
Mobile phone locators
It is now possible, from a single laptop computer, to locate where a mobile phone is calling from anywhere in the world, with an accuracy of between 200 metres and a mile. This is not done by attaching probes, and it is not limited to the area where the laptop is working from. The "cross border" system means it is now theoretically possible to locate a mobile phone call from a town abroad from a laptop in London
The article from the Guardian is based almost entirely on Wikileaks' publication of the Spy Files (# 1 and 2 back in December 2011, SpyFiles#3 in September this year):
http://wikileaks.org/spyfiles3
When we fail to stop it, they take it as consent; which gives them even greater power to rule over us.
Spying works both ways..
The time has come for people to follow our politicians everywhere they go, at their home, when they are on vacation, in restaurants, in the bathroom, outside their office, follow their car, there are no laws against that type of activity..
Maybe then they will learn..
As for that freak Stephen Harper..
Jason Kenny and few other big-time Conservatives are taking Harper out of the picture..
They realize now that Harper has been caught and can`t get his agenda through..
Don`t be fooled by this gambit..
Jason Kenny is just as evil if not more..
Stephen Harper has no more clothes, he stands naked and exposed, and it`s not a pretty sight.
Thanks for that data
A succession of fine posts. Thank you, Gtant. Sad that all this is going on, but good that you're highlighting it.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Harper+spies+monitoring+anti+pipeline+groups/9186311/story.html
The Province reporting this? Wow. The games continue with our politicians and the "media".
The governments are disgusting spying on their own citizens. Where are we? China?
When are people going to wake up to the corruption of all levels of our governments?
A comment from another site:
Former scribbler
• 15 minutes ago
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Yesterday, I referred to an interview with Grand Chief Stewart Phillip in which he portrayed First Nations as the Thin Red Line standing between ordinary Canadians and rapacious multinationals. But the bigger thrust of our talk was his belief that the Harper govt is setting itself up to call a snap election on the issue of pipelines, fracking, etc., as in : Are you for the economy or against it? He believes, as I do, that the strategy would catch the Liberals and NDP flat-footed. The anti-union activity as cited above would further serve the surprise election call. Phillip believes the trigger would be the deepening of the Senate scandal and other external factors, such as the Rob Ford scandal, drawing the Conservatives into disrepute. By 2015, the legal and political fallout could kill their re-election chances. A Hail Mary pass early in the New Year could short-circuit the Opposition. Something to think about.
Yes, something to think about. More research to do.
YOU ROCK GRANT!!
Great posts, right-wing blogger readers like me are sitting on the edge of our seats in anticipation of more thrilling Free for all weekend posts!
Later Gater
Watchmen
From Twitter
Warren Kinsella @kinsellawarren 5h
Just did @SunNewsNetwork hit. Harper has achieved the impossible: he's knocked Crackhead Mayor from the headlines. Amazing.#cdnpoli #TOpoli
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