Entry for May 15, 2009
May 15
Church leaders to judge oilsands morality ....Party report clears Lingenfelter in memberships fiasco
Going thru the newspaper this AM . I saw these stories caught my attention. These are intersting stories. It is strange these two story go hand in hand in some way. In mind. What do think?Party report clears Lingenfelter in memberships fiascoBy James Wood, TheStarPhoenix.com May 14, 2009Dwain Lingenfelter
Photograph by: SP file photo, SP file photoREGINA – A report commissioned by the NDP has cleared leadership candidate Dwain Lingenfelter in the case of 1,100 irregular party memberships both sold by and paid for by his campaign.
But Bob Hale, the Swift Current lawyer appointed to look into the circumstances that saw band members of the Flying Dust and Waterhen Lake First Nations signed up en masse for NDP memberships without their consent or knowledge, acknowledges he was never able to speak to the volunteer at the centre of the activities.
Lingenfelter, the former deputy premier who had been the perceived front-runner in the leadership race before the controversy erupted, apologized last week for what he said was the work of an “overexuberant volunteer” and a lack of oversight in the campaign.
The NDP cancelled the memberships and appointed Hale to investigate, and with the report released Thursday afternoon at NDP headquarters, Hale backed up Lingenfelter’s version of events.
“There is no evidence that Dwain Lingenfelter or senior members of his campaign knowingly or intentionally participated in a scheme to sell memberships without consent,” wrote Hale, who is speaking to reporters this afternoon.
Hale pins the responsibility on the volunteer, of whom he writes, “one person did try to deceive the party and to abuse the rights of many individuals.”
The report said that the hand-written information regarding names, addresses and birth-year were provided by the volunteer, and the “only possible conclusion” is that the applicant signatures were made by the volunteer himself.
In his report, Hale initially says he will not identify the Meadow Lake volunteer but later refers to him as "Morin."
Hale said the membership applications did not raise any red flags when processed by Lingenfelter campaign workers who were working under time constraints before forwarding them to the NDP provincial office.
“It is patently unreasonable to expect volunteers to take on the obligation of sniffing out fraudulent schemes,” he wrote.
Lingenfelter had defended his campaign’s purchase of the memberships – allowed within party rules – as a response to the hardship of the individuals. It was revealed in Hale’s terms of reference that the memberships had been paid for mostly in small bills, $10s and $20s.
Hale said the decision to pay for the memberships was made by Lingenfelter campaign manager Garry Aldridge and the rationale for paying cash was that it would be easier to process than a single cheque since payment has to be confirmed for each application.
However, Hale notes the NDP provincial office “did not request that individual payments be made for each application and they indicate they can and do process payments with one cheque.”
The question now is whether the report will close the case for Lingenfelter’s three leadership rivals, party members, the public and the Saskatchewan Party, which has been taking aim at Lingenfelter and the NDP each day since the issue arose.
NDP members select their new leader on June 6 in a one-member, one-vote system.
jwood@sp.canwest.com
Church leaders to judge oilsands morality !By Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald May 15, 2009 8:05 AMA view of Syncrude's extraction and upgrading facility at Mildred Lake, with the Base Mine Lake tailings pond in the foreground.
Photograph by: Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal, fileCALGARY - Canadian church leaders -- including three from the heart of the oilpatch in Calgary-- will explore moral, ethical and spiritual issues surrounding oilsands development when they travel to northern Alberta next week on a fact-finding mission.
After the visit, delegates say, churches around the country will be better educated to formulate an official stance for their congregations on the environmental impact of oilsands development.
"It is controversial, no doubt in my mind," said Bill Phipps, former moderator of the United Church of Canada, and one of more than a dozen church leaders going on the tour.
"But as Albertans and churchgoers and Canadians we are all implicated in the pros and cons of tarsands development, so it's time someone challenged the public to take a real serious look at the ethical and moral issues, too."
The coalition, called Kairos -- a multi-denominational social justice group--will visit the region from May 21 to 29.
The delegation, including representatives from the Anglican Church of Canada, Mennonite Central Committee, the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, will meet with municipal leaders, environmental groups, oilsands developers and labour groups, Phipps said.
They will also meet aboriginal leaders from Fort Chipewyan, where concerns surrounding polluted water have been raised.
"By talking to this range of people we can help clarify in our own minds what the current and future issues are, and learn how to address them with our congregations,"said Phipps, a retired minister.
The mission comes on the heels of a string of high-profile, negative publicity for the oilsands, including the 1,600 ducks that died on a tailings pond and a scathing examination of the developments by National Geographic magazine.
The Alberta government, meanwhile, is in the midst of a $25-million rebranding campaign, which attracted international attention after it was learned one photograph used was shot in England.
One industry analyst said the timing of the church leaders' trip is not in the government's favour.
"The government is going to have their public relations agenda taken away by this," said Ian Doig, an independent oil and gas industry analyst.
Doig also said the mission to north-ern Alberta by such a wide range of church leaders could deal a blow to an industry already struggling under the weight of the economic downturn.
"This is just another hurdle for them."
Another Calgary delegate, Dana Bush, said all members of the coalition are determined to enter into the weeklong visit with open minds.
She said most Canadians are knowledgeable about the oilsands from a physical and environmental perspective, but not many consider the oilsands in a theological context.
"This is a chance to explore our ethical and spiritual relationship with the land and the people up there and determine what is our responsibility," said Bush, who will be representing Canadian Quakers.
The Kairos delegation, which will also include officials with the Dene Nation in Canada's north, Gitxsan First Nation in British Columbia and Oil Watch International in Nigeria, aims to eventually develop an ecumenical consensus on a series of points.
"But the individual churches, they will also develop their own policies, probably, as a result of this trip," said Sara Stratton, a spokeswoman for Kairos.
"So the United Church, for example, would probably have a period of reflection based on its experience, and the Catholic bishops would have a similar conversation. Depending on the structure of the church, that would filter down or go into a larger dialogue."
With files from Reuters
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