The Narwhal | News on Climate Change, Environmental Issues in Canada

Harper Government Hires Firm for $22 Million International Ad Campaign Promoting Oilsands

Indra Das — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 21:12:54 +0000

The Harper government has hired an international public relations firm to oversee a $22 million advertising campaign to promote the oilsands and Canada's natural resources sector around the world.

The Canadian arm of PR firm FleishmanHillard won a bid for the initial $1.695 million contract to conduct the first phase of the ad campaign, reports the Toronto Star.

The first phase of the ad campaign will reach the United States, Europe, and Asia this year. If the firm's contract is renewed for 2015, it could be worth up to $4 million, with the remaining $18 million reserved for media buys.

FleishmanHillard, which has previously done strategic communications work and public opinion research for federal departments, has offices in all three targeted markets.

The firm will be developing and producing the ads for print, internet and television, and will be responsible for the drafting and coordination of public relations, advertising and social media strategies, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Natural Resources Canada's request for proposals (RFP) presents a plan for the campaign, focusing on "strengthening Canadas [sic] brand as a global leader in responsible resource development" and "[expanding] market access for Canadian natural resources, primarily energy." The word "responsible" is further underlined in the proposed messages.

While the campaign is to address Canada's entire natural resources sector, the RFP only explicitly mentions oilsands bitumen, pointing out how the latter industry has been "unfairly" targeted by proposals like the European Fuel Quality Directive "in part due to preconceived notions about the oil sands that are not supported by science."

The department suggests the campaign emphasize Canada as a "stable and secure choice" in sustainable energy, "compared to international alternatives," and outline the "unparalleled" investment opportunities in the country's energy sector.

Such messaging was tested in Washington focus groups in April 2013. HarrisDecima submitted a report to Natural Resources in September, which found the groups had a "neutral to positive" response to ads suggesting an increased energy partnership between the U.S. and Canada.

"Overall, it was fairly clear that Canada is held in fairly high regard, even if it is not often considered, and that an element of that high regard relates to Canada being a competent and trustworthy neighbour/partner — both in terms of industrial partnerships and acting responsibly," says the report, which cost $58,000 to commission.

Despite these results, the Obama administration has not yet been forthcoming in providing approval for the Keystone XL pipeline proposal, which faces strong environmental opposition in the U.S. Domestic opposition to various proposed pipeline projects including the Northern Gateway, which would transport crude oil from Alberta to British Columbia, also remains strong.

David Provencher, a spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, said that the ad campaign would ensure a "fact-based dialogue" to "better inform" markets about Canada's resource development.

"The objectives of the ad campaign are to raise awareness of Canada's environmental record and the shared U.S.-Canada energy interest and needs," said Provencher, in a statement.

"The campaign is also intended to raise awareness among decision-makers in Europe and the Asia Pacific that Canada is a secure, reliable and responsible supplier of crude oil, natural gas and other natural resources."

NDP House leader Nathan Cullen, who has voiced opposition to the Northern Gateway project, called the campaign an attempt by the Harper government to "greenwash" Canada's damaged international reputation as an environmentally friendly nation. He also questioned the allocation of public funds to help the energy industry with advertising.

"Of all the industries, I didn't know that oil and gas and mining companies were so impoverished that they couldn't take ads out in newspapers. I don't know why we're subsidizing Shell and Chevron in their efforts to sell oil. I think they're more than capable of doing that themselves," said Cullen.

FleishmanHillard's Ottawa office declined to comment on the campaign.

While the ad campaign's estimated budget is $22 million, Natural Resources Canada noted that the final cost will not be made public until the government releases its 2014-2015 annual report on advertising expenses.

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Natural Resources Canada Makes Huge Fuss to Suppress Release of Emissions Story – For One Hour

Carol Linnitt — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 01:40:33 +0000

Today Postmedia News journalist Mike De Souza released an article on Environment Canada's missing annual emissions report. He writes "the federal government ins't answering questions about what's holding up the release of an annual report on Canada's progress in fighting climate change – an analysis normally released in mid-summer." The annual inventory of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions is the definitive measure of the nation's carbon footprint and emissions trajectory based on previously reported years. Environment Canada, the federal body responsible for the report, told De Souza "no release date had been set." De Souza's article, published on www.canada.com this afternoon was forced offline by Natural Resources Canada, however, because it was reportedly published too early. The debacle, made public on twitter by David Provencher, Press Secretary to Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver, was resolved when the article resurfaced online around 2:20pm EST.

The revised article included a statement from Natural Resources: "Environment Canada is currently preparing the 2013 Canada's Emissions Trends report…Therefore, they are best positioned to comment on this report." Natural Resources Canada also acknowledged it shared information with Environment Canada for the report, but would not say when those calculations were shared. Natural Resources Canada's response, which delayed the released of De Souza's article for roughly one hour, caused speculation that the government was working to suppress media coverage of Environment Canada's missing report. David McLaughlin, former chair of the National Roundtable on Environment and Economy which was recently disbanded by the Harper Government, suggested the report's delay might have something to do with the pending decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Recently President Obama announced that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions will play a role in Washington's decision on the pipeline, which will connect the Alberta tar sands, Canada's fastest growing source of greenhouse gasses, with refineries and export facilities in the Gulf Coast. Canada's ability to accurately report its carbon emissions has recently come under scrutiny with the release of the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) report release in Bonn, Germany this June. The CAT report, based on analyses by Climate Analytics, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the Dutch-based energy institute Ecofys, found that "Canada appears to have vastly underestimated fugitive emissions from gas exploration in British Columbia, putting into question its entire emissions reporting on fugitives." A separate report from Environmental Defence, released earlier this month, suggested Canada's commitment to developing the Alberta tar sands will prevent it meeting international climate commitments. "Expanding the tar sands makes it impossible for Canada to meet its 2020 Copenhagen target," said Danielle Droitsch, Canada Project Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The US is moving to meet that target while Canada is going in the opposite direction," she said at a press conference in Toronto. Although just how far Canada is from that mark is impossible to tell without national reporting on carbon emissions. According to De Souza "the last report, released on Aug 8, 2012, revealed that Canada's climate performance was improving slightly with annual greenhouse gas emissions projected to be 19 per cent above a target agreed to by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in international negotiations." The report, writes De Souza, is critical for both economists and environmental groups that measure Canada's climate change impact in relation to policy for industry, transportation and other sectors of the economy. "It's the best tool we have to understand Canada's progress, or lack thereof, towards our national climate target," Clare Demerse, director of federal policy at the Pembina Institute, told De Souza. He also uncovered that Canada recently began counting forests as carbon sinks in their annual reporting, allowing Canada "to report a 38 per cent improvement in its climate performance in its 2012 report." That same report also confirmed that the tar sands industry is Canada's fastest growing source of GHGs, with a carbon footprint projected to be larger than all of the provinces, excluding Ontario, by 2020. The Harper Government has taken precautions in previous years to soften the impact of Canada's GHG emissions reporting.

"About two weeks before the emissions trends report's release in 2012, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver was told in a memo that Environment Canada was still 'considering different media strategy options' for how and when the report would be announced. Natural Resources Canada also said that both departments had prepared 'responsive lines' in anticipation of questions from journalists. Similar lines would normally be developed for newly-appointed Environment Minister Leone Aglukkaq," writes De Souza.

Today's fracas with Natural Resources Canada isn't De Souza's first run-in with federal ministries. Last year then Environment Minister Peter Kent referred to De Souza as an "environmental activist" for an article regarding Canada's position on a carbon tax. De Souza, known for his effective access to information (ATIP) requests, has recently revealed the oil and gas industry's role in changes to environmental legislation through the 2012 budget bills, that the Harper government downplayed those changes to legislation in talks with First Nations, that the Harper government solicited support from the oil and gas industry in making those "very controversial" changes, and that Alberta's tar sands tailings ponds are leaking into and contaminating Alberta groundwater.

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