UPDATED : Fair Comment/fair use no defence with The Province when it comes to Enbridge.

Posted on by Laila

UPDATE 06/26/2012

First, numerous emails to attend to this evening, you will get a reply as soon as I can! I just walked in the door!!

Second – one email was from a source with extensive history within the industry who was a Postmedia editor, who has worked for the Province with Dan and Moriarty. This is what they had to say about this situation:

I loved your Enbridge post; If it’s of any interest, here’s what happened: Dan’s animation was superb, it came to the attention of Paul Godfrey (king of Postmedia) and Godfrey ordered it off the site. Moriarty had nothing to do with it. (Although he could have objected and quit, which he should have done.) You can speculate on the role ad dollars played, or politics, or just philosophy. But it was Godfrey, not Moriarty, who made the decision. 

It’s just how things go when one guy sits in a chair in Toronto telling papers right across Canada what to do. It’s a huge problem, and it’s frustrating most of all for the people who work in the newsroom, most of whom know better.

Bingo.  That means I was right when I thought Moriarty wasn’t behind the decision, based on the watcher from Postmedia head office parked on my site for hours today and yesterday – even while Moriarty called me from his car to talk about Enbridges claim on Facebook…

Which leads me to the last item of update this evening. CBC talked to Dan Murphy in a stunning ( or not so stunning depending on how cynical you are) interview in which Dan pretty much sums up what my source says above, although he doesn’t mention Godfrey. ( CBC contacted me yesterday morning because of this post and asked if I would comment on camera to the fair comment/fair use. Of course I said yes but as the story carried into today, my schedule wasnt able to fit with theirs and they clipped Ross Howard instead.)

Dan Murphy has gotta deserve some kind of award for speaking out against Enbridge. I suspect this will be the first of many incidents in times to come, which makes his public statements all that more important for all in the industry.

You can check out the CBC news spot HERE :

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/06/26/bc-cartoonist-enbridge-spoof.html

and the radio segment, HERE: http://www.cbc.ca/onthecoast/episodes/2012/06/26/dan-murphy/

You might also note in the comments below this post, a copy of Enbridges facebook page where they state clearly, that they did not ask The Province to remove the video… and perhaps they didn’t.

 But I think implying or threatening or even hinting that millions of dollars of adverts might get pulled because they were “unhappy” their material was used leads us to one of the oldest political tricks in the book : using semantics to deny/deflect and otherwise throw off an allegation that is a bit of a PR nightmare.

You can’t make us like you Enbridge. You might as well save your money for cleaning up another god-damn spill the right way, the first time.

——————————————————————————————-

I have no illusions left to shatter.

The last one was effectively killed this afternoon,right around the time I received a reply from Wayne Moriarty, Editor-in-chief of The Province regarding the removal of  Dan Murphy’s animation from the entire Canada.com network.

Wayne said quite simply that Enbridge had complained about the ‘misappropriation’ of their ad, and in this case he agreed with them, because the materials were not theirs. Wayne invited me to speak further with him tomorrow between noon and four, but I decided not to, after seeing this comment he gave to another site today, backofthebook.ca :

“Wayne Moriarty, The Province‘s Editor-in-Chief, says the animation was removed at the request of Enbridge “because it contains copyrighted material.” He admits that use of the material might be protected under fair use laws, but says the newspaper chose not to pursue the matter. He points out that The Province has run editorials critical of the pipeline, and insists that the decision to pull the satire has nothing to do with the $5 million campaign, which is running in his paper and The Vancouver Sun, both of which are owned by The Pacific Newspaper Group, among many other media outlets.

Moriarty denies a rumour that Murphy has been fired because of the cartoon. Murphy was not available for comment.”

Fair comment has been the hallmark of free speech for writers, journalists, artists and others to defend their opinions,commentary and art. Without it, we would be a society of darkness, for sharing of the aforementioned would likely result in timely and costly litigation of which not many would deem worthy of tackling.

But Dan Murphy did. He created and shared and I believe he did so rightly under fair comment and fair use laws. And as Wayne Moriarty mentioned to backofthepage.ca, they could have,may have pursued it, but chose not to – a black mark in my eye on the paper, and on freedom of the press.

This is what I wrote back to Wayne, upon hearing of his decision to side with Enbridge:

“Thank you for your email and I appreciate your response, although I am surprised you agreed with misappropriation of their ad.I do think Dan pushed the envelope, but rightly so and that it is fair comment despite the materials not being the property of Postmedia.
 
 In this case, the advertisement is being vigorously circulated in an aggressive ad campaign nationwide,is well within the public domain, and concerning an issue of national significance that has far-reaching implications on economic, social and environmental levels. The ads are representing a contentious proposal that is currently before an environmental review and public consultation process that has already garnered plentiful criticism. It must be argued that the ads also present a highly greenwashed version of what pipelines represent, in particular of the three recent spills reported in past weeks. For this reason, I am surprised that you would not side with the right and defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest, using materials in the public realm, being produced to alter public perception.
 
 I strongly see Dan’s animation as an opinion expressed through artistic commentary, that is fair, on a matter of public interest on a national level. I was very surprised to see it taken down.
 
Did Enbridge threaten legal action if it was not removed ? If there was a concern about the use of Enbridge’s advertisement within his animation, why was it approved for the site in the first place? “

As mentioned above, I doubt I will call Wayne back tomorrow. I see the writing on the wall, I am angry an editor would not choose to defend one of his best talents, in my opinion, on one of the best satires I’ve seen in a long time. Dan produces many, each a work of art, and a scathing commentary on his target.

I believe Dan’s work would have been well worth a defence with the fair dealing( fair use) of Canada’s copyright act, as satire. His work should also be defendable with fair comment, which ‘Gatley on Libel and Slander’ define as :

“… a defence to an action of libel or slander that the words complained of are fair comment on a matter of public interest. The right of fair comment is one of the fundamental rights of free speech and writing .. and it is of vital importance to the rule of law on which we depend for our personal freedom. The right is a bulwark of free speech….

“There are matters on which the public has a legitimate interest or with which it is legitimately concerned and on such matters, it is desirable that all should be able to comment freely and even harshly, so long as they do so honestly and without malice.”

But let’s move onto Enbridge,because when the chips are down, these guys are going to drop the sickly sweet,bucolic ad campaign that reads like an environmental version of Hansel and Gretel, and play hardball. It’s all nice when the public is looking, but behind the scenes I have no doubt there will be slapp suits and other diversionary tactics used to silence those bringing truth forward, and those who mock the beauty of pipelines that Enbridge woefully fails to create… even with dreamy pastel ad campaigns.

I think they saw Dan’s animation, saw how effective it was at tearing their little bo peep and a pipeline ad down to reality and shortly afterwards it was gone. Fair comment wasn’t going to help then so they took the copyright route.

 If Enbridge decides that they are going to go after every single person who is posting something they don’t like, if they want to tear down freedom of expression,fair comment and fair use to bully them into silence kindasortareally like the federal government has done with scientists and park employees and anyone else who is criticizing them… then bring it on.

Two can play hardball. In fact there is an entire team of British Columbians lining up to bat…

See the initial post and videos here, https://lailayuile.com/2012/06/22/dan-murphy-rocked-it-out-again-this-time-on-enbridge/

Want to join the conversation and have an End-bridge Banner of your own? The wonderful woman who created this banner that now graces the top of my site is Michelle Murphy, a Vancouver Island resident and a professional graphics designer. She has teamed up with another fabulous gal who created an automatic meme generator that allows you to add your own personal ending to the Enbridge banner, to express what it means to you!  Head on over to this link and have fun!!   http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3pv8bn/

56 thoughts on “UPDATED : Fair Comment/fair use no defence with The Province when it comes to Enbridge.”

  1. The Province is a bunch of pussies.
    Why I cancelled my subscription many, many years ago.
    I highly recommend every try and watch HBO’s new series written by Aaron Sorkin called, “The Newsroom”.
    Take note news people: it is how the news used to be investigated and reported.
    It is how it will be again. With or without your involvement. Corporate ownership or not.

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  2. Great letter, Laila. Another fine post.

    Seems like a few corners have been turned today as regards the MSM. Their deficiencies are showing. The beauty of it is that they’ll inevitably end up victims of their own self-inflicted irrelevance. Personally, I don’t know anyone that takes them seriously as news sources anymore.

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  3. Great piece of work once more Laila in bringing this to our attention. Any remnants of credibility The Province may have had, have certainly been lost after this decision. Money talks and Enbridge certainly has plenty of it. Who is going to believe that the 5 million dollar ads have nothing to do with the paper’s decision on this issue?

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  4. Remember when the news organisations would go to court to protect the right to freedom of speech and protecting whistleblowers? This is a sad commentary of what the media has become. If Enbridge thinks it is going to bullshit the people of BC, they are sadly mistaken. I am going to share this post widely, as it deserves. And I am going to email it to my more conservative friends who don’t beleive in facebook, and especially those who get their news from the TV and Print Media. Shame on you The Province and your editorial board!

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    1. As my source states, perhaps when the order came down from back east, someone here should have stood up for their newsroom and said no. That’s the right thing to do, imo, In reality, if that happened, Moriarty would have been gone, Dan likely gone and who knows who else, in the zest to shut this down. Its a big problem to have decisions tossed down from fatcats back east who likely dont care about much other than revenue. News doesnt come into for them. Might have a great commentary coming from same source on this later if I can talk them into it.

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  5. Coral:
    I was at a party a few nights ago and we were all laughing at the way they deliver the “news”.

    You are right. Nobody takes them seriously anymore.

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  8. Maybe Dan should do a cartoon on the Enbridge lie. This is the one that states that 60% of eligible groups support the Nothern Gateway pipeline when in fact it is 36%. Here is the press release statement by Enbridge on June 5, 2012 :
    “Almost 60 percent of eligible Aboriginal communities along the proposed right of way, representing 60 percent of the First Nations’ population (and 80 percent of the combined First Nations’ and Metis’ population) have agreed to be part owners of the proposed Northern Gateway pipelines. Half of the equity units taken up went to groups in British Columbia, and the other half to groups in Alberta.”

    Now I will break this down. I read the report and there were 76 communities ( in truth the table of contents listed 79 communities) eligible for the ” aboriginal economics benefits package which had the equity deal in it. 76 X60% = 45.6 communities (Paul Stanway publicly told the press it was 45) . 60% x 45 = 27. So 27 communities signed. But 27 communities is not 60% approval in total. 27 ÷76 =.36 or 36%

    Therefore the whole press release statement should read: Almost 60% (27) Aboriginal communities along the proposed right of way, representing 60% of the First Nation’s population ( and 80% of the combined First Nations’ and Metis population) 45 of the 75 communities have agreed to be part owners of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

    So in other words the statement should read : 36% of eligible Aboriginal communities have agreed to be part owners of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline. If Dan can do a parody of this press release by incorporating the true facts Enbridge cannot even force the Province to withdraw it for they can’t deny these facts.

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    1. Great comment Katrin, a must read for everyone! Enbridge has some slick PR. But they arent that savvy and screwed up bigtime with this one. HUGE… here is why.

      The best thing they( enbridge) and Godfrey and the advertising people could have done was ignored the video and everyone would have had a laugh and moved onto the next attraction, because thats how life works. News,humour, everything turns over so fast we lose stories in a revolving door of instant gratification. No harm, no foul.

      Instead, the video was pulled quietly and we all noticed.It was so obvious that night it happened, which is why I posted it here, and in the time it took for one of my readers to watch the province Youtube one, and comment, and go back for another look… it was removed from youtube forever.

      Suddenly they crossed over from reporting the news, to becoming the news, becoming the story… something that should never have happened. CBC started poking around, and did a great job of it, and may I say they too have Enbridge ads on their site, but maintained the story and pushed Enbridge for more than their first denial. Well done to Kirk and Calyn on that story.
      So now, Postmedia looks bad for effectively censoring for whatever really went down between Enbridge and the execs back east, and Enbridge looks bad for pressuring and Dan is the hero… for rightly speaking out about having his video pulled.

      See. Had they all those not involved just let it go…. we wouldnt be sitting here having this discussion.(And that is the difference in how to handle a potentially problematic situation with a good PR strategy… and a poorly thought out one. Fail fail fail )

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  9. I agree We need Energy
    NOT OIL !
    OIL is Not Our Only Option
    Our other Choices Are healthier For ALL LIFE
    and Does not make a big Ugly life threatenning Mess !

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  11. http://www.gfc.uk.net/projects_view.php?project_id=2
    We need Zero Point Energy It is available , it has been available for a very Long Time , Our Governments have a Choice and Oil should not even be considered as One of them Our Governments must know about this So if they Do than they are Lying to Us
    and if They Don’t know
    Then They are Stupid
    So either Way the show there incompetence
    We do Not need to depend on oil

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  12. Another excellent piece Laila – I like the thrust of your comments.

    To the Province and Vancouver Sun – I stopped buying your advertisement papers years ago (can’t call them newspapers anymore ) as I didn’t need anyone to tell me what to do. Your papers lack credibility and integrity and as a news source, bring smiles to people faces from amusement. Too bad you have been bought out by the bad guys eh !

    Thanks

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    1. Thank you workforfun, I dont actually know anyone around here who has a subscription anymore! I get the rare one I read for free from Mcdonalds when I have a coffee out sometimes.. ( best coffee and a free paper..lol.)

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  13. Morning everyone, what a lovely thing it was this morning to see this post all over facebook, with the Enbridge banner as well!! I have updated the post, to honour the artist after making sure she wanted her name out there, and have added an automatic meme generator so anyone can use this banner… and personalize it!!

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  14. Dear Laila,

    this is one of your best pieces and I hear and feel your frustration, “no illusion left to shatter”..
    I think we had this conversation before didn’t we?

    just like others have already mentioned, this is exactly why I don’t pay for a paper anymore, nothing but manipulated orchestrated news and far from the truth unless is suits somebody “important”??

    I have been tweeting about how the media is corrupt and bought by our politicians and how they are trying to hide the truth for over a year now. We have to be vocal about it, soon the said papers won’t have many readers left, just laughers…. :))

    Media has become just another whore that can be pimped out at anytime, sorry for the language but I am totally fed up with this Country, BC, Surrey etc. how we the people have been treated by our Leaders and the Media.

    Where do these types of people come from and what a nerve to try to pull the socks over our eyes on a daily basis? The joke is really on them, as they think we the people are stupid, we are far from stupid, we can read between the lines, we always could.

    I had the privilege or shall I say disgust to see it with my own eyes last year how the media really works and reports one thing than the next day it is taken down just because it does not suit one or more politician or corporation.

    It is a super greedy world, it is not about honesty and integrity anymore, it is just about the price tag, it seems the Devil is having christmas everyday, giving out gifts left and right and the receivers are ducking their tails and running with the flow of money..

    Laila, your posts will be shared far and wide, across the globe, people will read raw news, it has become the number 1 honest way of news, blogging.

    Thank you so much for bringing this out and let the world see the real TRUTH.

    Maggie

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  15. You speak from the heart which is rare.I can feel your disappointment and anger in this and thank you for doing what you do. It gives me hope.

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  16. This reminds me of the BP P.R. campaign, do they really think everyone is that stupid. The ads on TeeVee suggest that the entire Gulf Coast was a sewer until BP was nice enough to lubricate it! I could tolerate some information about efforts they were making to mitigate the situation and damage they created, but to imply that because of them everything from Florida to Texas along the Gulf is actually better and nicer and more beautiful etc. than ever is too much, way too much!

    Lovely Banner by the way Laila………

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    1. Thanks Koot, and yes, it does, doesnt it? Have some lovely gulf coast shrimp and oily tumours.. ick! Michelle is brilliant, isnt she? I think we will be teaming up more often on different stories to bring some pointed graphics to the site…; )

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  17. I too cancelled The Province. I couldn’t get through the first paragraph, before I threw the paper in the recycle.

    There is no longer any such thing as, good honest journalism nor reporting. The media are a disgrace to their professions. Propaganda rags and gutless wonders, is what they are.

    The BC citizens know Enbridge for what they are, and it isn’t much. Their lies are disgraceful. Enbridge is most known for, not cleaning up their spills.

    Shame on The Province, for not caring about our beautiful BC province.

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    1. Julie it isn’t fair to paint all reporters, writers, journalists with the same brush. Yes, we have the well known Liberal champions, who can still see no wrong with Christy because of personal friendships and whatever other influence they have allowed upon themselves, but I know a lot of great people in the media who don’t fall under this label. This situation is revealing because it shows the decisions being made by others that take away vital components to our society in favour of corporate ass-kissing and revenue.

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  18. Bless you,bless you from both of us for writing this,and everything you do. We don’t have a computer but our daughter phoned us to tell us about this story,and we drove to her house over in Smithers to read it ourselves and comment, so this is her email address we used, so you know.This is important to us because our homerange is really close to the line and we get reassurances from Enbridge people we don’t trust,especially since we heard about the guys who left and went home on another spill.They don’t care about us,they only care about making money. Bless Dan Murphy and bless Michelle Murphy and I hope you two work together again.My daughter will keep us informed and we can use her computer if we need to get in touch again! Thank you, Greg and Karen, in the path of destruction.

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    1. Very,very kind words and know that there are so many people against this pipeline to stand behind and with you!! Many thanks for sharing with us!

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        1. I still am too Koot !! We are keeping in touch via their lovely daughter, who cares deeply about her parents and our province too!

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  19. Giddy up! Pretty damn fine speech to old Wayne there, compelling argument. Guess its all boiling down to a loss of the way it used to be, wonder how many young enterprising reporters get their ideals broken down like this eh? REALITY CHECK. Big $$ trumps expression and truth, far too often these days for my likin’. Keep your chin up and knuckle down my girl,your path is true and your aim straight.

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    1. Ethical Oil and its spokes weenie Ezra are a joke. They want to send our Canadian oil to human rights abusing China so we can continue to send money to those Arabs that abuse their wimmens for oil for Eastern Canada, makes a lot of sense to me…….not. It is even more evil than shipping raw logs and mills to Commie China!

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  21. Enbridge is telling me that they didn’t request the video be removed. Have a look…….
    https://www.facebook.com/#!/enbridgenortherngateway/posts/152759448192168?notif_t=share_reply

    Enbridge Northern Gateway
    Hi Zaq, Enbridge team members are focused on the rapid and thorough containment and cleanup of the release in such a way as to minimize the impact to the environment. Here’s the Enbridge release on the Elk Point incident for more information: http://www.enbridge.com/MediaCentre/News.aspx?yearTab=en2012&id=1630491June 20 at 7:50am · LikeUnlike.

    Cheryl McNevin Baron

    Can you tell me what the point in talking to the Toronto Board of Trade is when you want to build your Northern Gateway in BC? Shouldn’t you be talking to British Columbians? By the way, check out the internet. The Dan Murphy spoof of the N…orthern Gateway ad you’re running in BC is all over the place. Perhaps, in hindsight, it might have been better not to bully the Province newpaper into removing it from their website and You Tube. All Enbridge has succeeded in doing is spreading it further.See More4 hours ago · LikeUnlike.

    Enbridge Northern Gateway
    Hi Cheryl, Northern Gateway is in the national interest and people all across Canada have a right to hear about the project and have a right to participate in the conversation about it. Enbridge did not ask The Province to remove the video.2 hours ago · LikeUnlike.

    Cheryl McNevin Baron
    Is that a fact? If Northern Gateway is in the national interest of Canada, then we should be discussing it nationally through the federal government and not at “private” meetings arranged by Enbridge. Further, you are saying that Enbridge did not complain about the video and ask for it to be removed? Or that a suggestion may have been made to pull your ad from the paper if the video remained up?2 hours ago · LikeUnlike.

    Cheryl McNevin Baron

    “Wayne Moriarty, The Province‘s Editor-in-Chief, says the animation was removed at the request of Enbridge “because it contains copyrighted material.” He admits that use of the material might be protected under fair use laws, but says the n…ewspaper chose not to pursue the matter. He points out that The Province has run editorials critical of the pipeline, and insists that the decision to pull the satire has nothing to do with the $5 million campaign, which is running in his paper and The Vancouver Sun, both of which are owned by The Pacific Newspaper Group, among many other media outlets.”See More2 hours ago · LikeUnlike.

    Enbridge Northern Gateway
    Hi Cheryl, the JRP process through the NEB is the national regulatory hearing process that will deliver a recommendation, or not, on whether the Northern Gateway project should be granted an operating certificate. The process is open to the… public to participate and anyone was free to write letters to the panel or register to present an oral statement. Over 4000 people did so from across Canada. Enbridge did not request the video be removed from The Province website.See Moreabout an hour ago · LikeUnlike.

    Cheryl McNevin Baron
    The JRP is useless. Mr. Harper has made it so he and his government can over rule the JRP’s decision if they don’t agree with it. Why do you think people were so upset about Bill C38? So are you saying that Mr. Moriarty is not telling the truth about the video?44 minutes ago · LikeUnlike.

    Enbridge Northern Gateway
    Hi Cheryl, we’re saying that Enbridge did not request the video be removed from The Province website.38 minutes ago · LikeUnlike.

    Cheryl McNevin Baron
    Then you are saying that the Editor-in-Chief is not telling the truth.

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    1. Cheryl, I saw this, and called the reporter on the story and Wayne from The Province. Wayne was in a meeting. The reporter has already been dealing with this and there is more to the story. I will post details as soon as he confirms and gives me a shout back.

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  22. Wow – great Blog Laila. and thanks to all the people who bring me hope on the matter of figuring out what to say. This ethical oil cartoon is just bang on.

    A couple of weeks ago a tuning customer said: well I think that Ezra Levant guy is pretty sensible… with his ethical oil…” “do you know about that??”

    You could have knocked me over – I gasped trying not to choke… almost launched into a tirade – she must have known that I was holding back – she said “I might be biased, I have a son working in the oil patch….”

    I said: “mmnn…could be…” the air was a bit chilly and that was that! Now, I know what to say next time: “Kind of like ethical cigarettes? ethical asbestos? ethical torture?

    And what about those ethical jobs? Bring ’em home and give ’em work making geo thermal and wind power… I think their families would rather they lived at home anyway. Can you build a family and community when someone special works in the oil patch? (it’s tough with all the missed birthdays, first steps, sports day, driving, graduation. I think not but that’s just my opinion)

    Did you know that you and everyone else can comment on the pipeline? You don’t have to be signed up to make a comment – just send a letter with your opinion to the Enbridge Hearing Panel and send a copy the Enbridge Corporation. I’ll post the addresses as soon as I find them.

    Thanks for saving me

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  23. Love your new line, path to destruction. I have been seeing the embridge ads but its like they go right over my head. I know they are lies & it has become funny when I see them.

    Unfortunately I did not see Dan Murphy’s video. I am not surprized the Province pulled it because Embridge complained. This is how big corporations work. That is how the press is no longer what it once was, a source of information for citizens. There is very little actual News in the media these days. They are all too concerned about their advertizers. the owners of big media do not have the interests of the general public in mind. They only care about their fellow 1%ers.

    You see little real investigative reporting in the msm. There are no Sima Holts, Marjorie Nichols, Websters, etc. Its all about keeping the citizens un informed & shilling for the other 1%ers.

    The corporate media needs to be broken up into smaller pieces so that not all media sources are owned by one large corporation.

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    1. Amen, well said, my thought exactly.
      we need to break all corrupt corporations and Politicians apart, they have no place in our Country, they have pilfered our pockets long enough.
      Time to Stand Tall and fight for our Freedom, Solidarity and Unity, this is our Country, this is our Province, if we the People don’t take it back, nobody will rescue us.

      Lets pull together for our Children’s sake, our Future, our Kids.

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    3. The video is up above and in my previous post eaf, hope you have checked it out!! There are some great investigative reporters out there, unfortunately again, corporate budgets dont allow great indepth features often because they can take a lot of time and expense to bring forth… and often that story only carries a couple days. All boils down to money.

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  24. Laila, speaking truth to power is important. Speaking truth to the broader public has become even more important since the mainstream media have abdicated their responsibilities and have stopped any semblance of investigative journalism. In the midst of cynicism, disappointment and dismay you continue to inspire me and many others to stay informed and to keep up the pressure to make this world a better place.

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    1. David, you have a talent for choking me up. Your support of my work has been tremendous, and for that, I thank you. Making it a better place is what it’s all about.

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  25. I worked for Southam/Canwest/Postmedia for over thirty years. Past tense.

    Look at the Driving sections. NEVER anything critical. Wanna know why? It was done once before at the Edmonton Journal and advertisers threatened to pull their ads.

    Moriarty used to work at The Journal and was a climber, willing to do ANYTHING to promote himself in the eyes of his editors. I DON’T ever see him standing up to Postmedia who are bleeding money to make an editorial stand.

    Mainstream media in Canada are dying because their journalistic integrity has gone out the window.

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  26. “You can’t make us like you Enbridge.”

    How true this is Laila. Enbridge must be wondering why their glossy attempts to win us over have been met with anger, scepticism, and derision. My hope is that opposition to Enbridge will continue to increase in Alberta. While I don’t want to see oil spills anywhere, more people in that province need to understand what the rest of us are so worried about.

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  28. Report in the Victoria Times Colonist today (Wednesday, June 27) says that Postmedia has announced the sale of their main building in Toronto for $24 million, which they are now going to lease back for 24 months. They needed to sell it to meet financial obligations and are contemplating dropping some Sunday editions in their chain. The constant lack of real news is the main reason the MSM is having financial difficulties – their failure to report more than fluff. Its because we are getting the “real news” from the bloggesphere. Thanks for all you do.

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    1. Hi Colin, nice to hear from you! I will be posting something on this later this afternoon – crazy day here again! They sold the building to pay off bills. What does that tell you? Have a great editoral coming from a top notch source.

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  29. Thank you! Its funny, its smart, its quick, its wonderful, its right on point!

    I think the Province did Dan Murphy a favour. I would not have known about the cartoon if it hadn’t been removed! I am sure embridge & the province will take much more heat over the withdrawl of the cartoon than if the cartoon had been left up.

    It also clearly outlines for people, embridge doesn’t want any opposition & will use money to achieve its goals. If nothing else their insistance on having the cartoon withdrawn would make me very suspicious of such a corporation. As to the province honcho back east, grow a back bone or get out of the newspaper business. You may keep your advertiser but you are loosing the readers. With no readers, no advertisers.

    That cartoon is so clever & it made me laugh! thank you to Dan Murphy.

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  30. Great post Laila, and great comments. Nice to find out the truth, sad that it’s exactly as bad as we thought.
    But, the movement is moving and slowly we will take back that which is inherently ours and our children’s, while ensuring that this corporate/government bedding never happens again.

    They’ve gutted the ability to monitor the environment and now they are working hard to “snoop” on everyone. We all know they already do it, but it remains illegal and inadmissible in court without a surveillance warrant.
    Here’s the Open-media dot ca Site and you may wish to add your voice, and any feedback is greatly welcome.

    And Dan Murphy Rocks!
    Even the picture he put up to fill the empty hole where the video use to be, the one with the oil-covered goose with Enbridge trying to cover it up with some lipstick… was priceless!

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  31. Pass on Laila’s link, the abovelink – spread it wide. Citizens are tired of the bs coming from government and their friends.
    Rumour has it Stevie wants to prorogue government again.
    I can still see the page girl with her “Stop Harper” sign.

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  34. my thoughts on what is happening right now out in the canadian political scene and the harper monkeys being trained to do the work he needs done to complete his missions for canada at whatever cost he decides i dont care if you the reader believes it or not just remember this article you read and watch it unfold latter after election day when cristy clark will reverse her stand on the pipeline and its economic importance to b.c. and let the pipeline go through….why do i think this saskatchawan preimer and alberta premier wants it to go through remember allison redford and she was a sure loser in the alberta provincial election and she won in a way not ever seen before as per the poll takers harpers first monkey in place to set his ball in motion saskatchawan election not sure of still studing now one step left to finish the harper ball rolling need to get a monkey elected in b.c. who does he have as per the polls adrian dix who is putting together a legal team to take controll of what is going to happen with the pipeline is ahead with 43% of the vote or christy clark with 23% of the vote who says shes for clean but like the b.c. hydro project says its good for b.c. so were going to let a little dirty be called clean and harper and redford and saskatchawan preimer have been talking to christy clark at the preimers meetings and harper can fix somehow the b.c. election like i believe he did in alberta somehow will do it again in b.c….how first we have to get back christys reputation she is losing right now on her stances so we will give her new ones she can change latter and win her some votes we will like alberta get some dirt on ndp candidates or maybe drop in some questionable candidates for when needed like in alberta at the last minute to take away credibility of that party also help christy win so i have the last monkey in my game to set my ball in motion and b.c. can kiss my…….. take this message and put it somewhere and after the b.c. election look at all the ndp ridings that end up in uproar and conflict and see if they are new members(harper monkeys) or just have pasts that have had harper money spent on them to bring it out at the last minute to sway the christy vote also see if after she gets elected if she changes her mind and let the pipeline go through harpers only hope and he needs her in bad do what you wish but remember your part of the vote and if it goes through live with it…….but have a open mind i recently listened to mulcair say lets send alberta oil east thrugh existing pipelines and a little rerouting and open up a shell refinery back east and start looking after ourselfs instead of looking where to sell out our resources next lets employe and produce within and look after canada instead of doing what everyone else is doing and end up like euope and usa are now and we will not need to suffer because of greed we can prosper because of brains

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