‘Kill the Avatar bill!’
‘Kill the Avatar bill!” That’s the cry at this week’s annual meeting of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada in Toronto. Not quite in those words, mind you, but the private member’s bill in question, C-300, is based on the same lurid anti-capitalist, anti-mining fantasies that provided the psychic substructure for James Cameron’s mega-grossing but Oscar-short movie.
Activists last week bought an ad in Hollywood organ Variety to suggest analogies between oilsands development and the sci-fi epic’s tale of interplanetary resource rape and alien cultural genocide. So far, C-300’s supporters don’t seem to have followed that tack, but then perhaps that’s because they include the Catholic Church, which has condemned Avatar for its mystic eco-mumbo jumbo (I know. Pot. Kettle. Etc.)
This week, the PDAC opened a campaign to bombard MPs with letters opposing this potentially disastrous piece of legislation. The real wonder is that the bill, which was proposed by Liberal MP and NGO stooge John McKay, is still alive. In fact, having survived prorogation, it seems to stand little chance of passing a third reading, but then it was never expected to pass a second reading.
Bill C-300 would open Canadian companies to an onslaught of accusations and investigations promoted by people whose fundamental stance is that mining activity should be stopped. Those found “guilty” under this process would have government support — in the form of Export Development Corporation loan guarantees, or investment by the Canada Pension Plan — withdrawn. There is a good case that such government support should not exist in the first place, but the real threat of the bill is that of constant harassment of Canadian companies under a never-ending stream of bogus complaints.
[More]
Popularity: 2% [?]
Male, retired and the rest is of little interest to anyone. The site keeps me busy and if it helps others to stay abreast of daily events then my time is well spent.
Jack Says:
I should have included a link to a Star article I found yesterday. My bad.
Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 3:04 pm