Koch brothers fund Fraser Institute

[Integrity_Farmer]

An interesting article in the Vancouver Observer
Amidst revelations that the Fraser Institute accepted at least $500,000 from the Koch family between 2007 and 2010, the institute's co-founder acknowledged that the US oil billionaires have a long history of donating to the think tank.

Two foundations under the Koch family's auspices – the Charles G. Koch and the Claude R. Lambe Foundations – gave the Fraser Institute large grants to conduct “international work,” its former executive director Michael Walker told the Vancouver Observer.

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2012/04/26/fraser-institute-co-founder-confirms-years-and-years-us-oil-billionaires-funding

So we can expect no bias from the Fraser Institute of no US oil interests

[stonepicker]

A number of oil companies donate to the david suzuki foundation, i guess we better not listen to anything that comes from there either.

[Integrity_Farmer]

Stoneypicker
I don't even know why I respond to this. You might note that there is big difference between citizens groups than 500 million from the Koch brothers that promote big oil.
Why don't we make all donations to organizations public information? Then we will know who funds these organizations like the Fraser Institute and the CD How institute?
If all the information was public we could even find out who bankrolled the National Citizens Coalition while Harper was president? Was it the railways Cargill ADM etc??
Democracy should not be based on who can write the biggest cheque.

[blackpowder]

Foreign oil has always funded any group that could impede our domestic production. Thats the business behind the business.

[stonepicker]

Your 500,000. turned into 500,000,000. I'm glad that private business helps fund these think tanks, i guess your more suspicious than i am. who do you think should fund them? I don't think there is such a thing as a completely unbiased study, some come close. If a study presents the facts then to me it's a good study. Trying to watch science of stupid and type at same time, prob. reads like garble, i think i'll watch tv

[Hamloc]

The Frazer institute is a business friendly right of center think tank, I would assume this would appeal to the Koch brothers. It would appear Integrity Farmer you would be much happier if they didn't have the freedom to accept donations from successful businessman. Maybe you should become a member of the Alberta NDP that taxes us all into submission, hires their chief of staff and now the assistant chief of staff from Ontario. There is no such thing as zero bias.

[tmyrfield]

ever hear of maurice strong or george soros?

[crusher]

Interesting read on Charles Koch in the current issue of Forbes magazine. 80 years old and still engaging his talents and energy. Not a whiner but a doer.

Also in that issue were comments on the richest man in the world Bill Gates. He only owns 3% of Microsoft which is 13% of his wealth. Looks like he made a multitude of shrewd investments elsewhere. Could that be a lesson for farmers who have all their wealth tied up in their farms. He's doing way better than us in that regard.

[TOM4CWB]

Crusher,

The GATES FOUNDATION and what they own... and who funds the Gates Foundation... is also a really interesting topic to research. Warren Buffet sneaks into the back door... CN is a big holding... really interesting and influential people... that have an amazing influence... like stopping oil pipelines!

Talking about the Alaskan pipeline... how it has refrigerated legs and above ground built in an endless zzzzzz...
earthquake proof with teflon slip joints... Cariboo crossings built in...etc...

technology to prevent spills is super fantastic... and yet

big oil is racing down railway tracks being spilled here there and everywhere... because of the... GATES FOUNDATION... and Warren Buffet... and on it marches!

Logic... big money rules the environmentalists... like the Tides Foundation...

And the 'oil sands'...

"A left-wing lobby group in San Francisco wired $55,000 to the bank account of an Indian chief in Northern Alberta, paying him to oppose the oilsands.

And sure enough, that chief – Allan Adam, from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation – earned his money. Last weekend, he flew to Toronto to sit on a stage next to Neil Young, the folk singer who was in town to demonize Canada’s oil industry.

Now, $55,000 might sound like a lot of money to pay, just to rent a politician for a day if all the chief did for his money was to appear on stage in Toronto beside Neil Young. But to the Tides Foundation, it’s well worth it. Think of Adam as an actor, hired to play a part in an elaborate theatrical production.

Neil Young had his role: he’s the American celebrity who can draw crowds of fawning Baby Boomer journalists. But at the end of the day, he’s just another millionaire celebrity. When he talks about the oilsands, he quickly reveals himself as a low-information know-nothing.

Adam brings what Young can’t: authenticity. Young likes to wear an Indian-style leather vest, but Adam really is an Indian, and he really lives near the oilsands.

Adam didn’t do a lot of talking in Toronto. He was more of a prop than an actor. See, the Tides Foundation is from San Francisco. And Neil Young lives on a 1,500-acre estate near San Francisco. Without Adam, this would have just been some California millionaires coming up here to boss Canadians around. That’s why they had to hire Adam, to aboriginalize their attack on Canada. It was political sleight of hand, to distract from the fact that this was a foreign assault on Canadian jobs.

Tides could have hired an actual actor, like maybe Lorne Cardinal, who played the Aboriginal policeman in the comedy series Corner Gas. But they didn’t hire an actor. They hired an elected public official. That’s the problem.

Adam’s official title is “chief.” But it’s not a religious or cultural title. Under the Indian Act, that’s just the legal title given to the elected mayor of an Indian Band.

The Tides Foundation put $55,000 into the bank account of a mayor to get him to take a particular political position. Depending on what Tides was getting the Chief to do, the payment might well have been a bribe. But we won't know, because no one is talking about the $55,000 payment.

How is it acceptable that a foreign lobby group can simply deposit cash into a bank account of a Canadian politician? Who else is being paid cash to oppose the oilsands?

This fact almost escaped detection. It was buried in the Tides Foundation’s 138-page filing with the IRS, who only disclosed it to get a tax break. Even then, it was shrouded in secrecy.

The money was paid to a numbered company, 850450 Alberta Ltd. Only a search of Alberta’s corporate registry revealed that 850450 Alberta Ltd. was owned by another company, called Acden Group Ltd., that had changed its name twice in the past four years. Adam and other band politicians were directors and shareholders, in trust for the band.

The payment was well-hidden – and Adam certainly didn’t disclose it when he was on stage with Young.

The same IRS disclosure shows Tides made 25 different payments to Canadian anti-oilsands activists in a single year, totaling well over a million dollars. And that’s just one U.S. lobby group. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund out of New York, spends $7 million a year in Canada, with an explicit campaign strategy of fomenting Aboriginal unrest, through protests and lawsuits.

If a foreign oil company – say, ExxonMobil – was depositing secret payments in the bank accounts of MPs, it would be a scandal. Those MPs would face an RCMP investigation, Exxon would likely be charged with bribery, and the media on both sides of the border would have a field day.

Yet none of those things will likely happen with Adam.

Because the Tides Foundation knows that the Canadian media and even the police are cowards when it comes to Aboriginal politicians. They don’t dare hold them to account, for fear of being called racist. If you doubt this, look at the continued success of Theresa Spence, Attawapiskat’s chief.

Tides got its money’s worth."

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/17/first-nations-chief-received-55000-from-tides-foundation

Tides Foundation
The Tides Foundation, founded in 1976, has provided more than $300 million in funding for what it calls "positive social change ... We define 'progressive' as creating a positive impact on people's lives in ways that honor and promote human rights, justice, and a healthy, sustainable environment." The Muckety Website maintains a relationship map of leaders of the Tides Foundation such as Drummond Pike, the founder.

The Tides Foundation is under the organization called Tides. "Each Tides organization pursues a distinct yet related strategy to promote the Tides mission. Tides Foundation works with donors to increase and organize resources for positive social change. Tides Center provides nonprofit management services to over 200 projects across the U.S. working to advance social change. Tides Shared Spaces operates and supports green nonprofit centers."[1] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tides_Foundation

[blackpowder]

Thanks Tom. You find things. Ive heard snippets over the years regarding various funding. The heretics have been too quiet, too long.

[Oliver88]

Tides Foundation seems very anti-Canadian.

Southern California oil is "dirtier" than oil from the Alberta oil sands yet the left wing petroleum experts such as Neil Young and Al Gore continue to bully Canada.

[grower99]

It is very important to check facts. Just watched an excellent report from CNN on this topic.We are all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts. Part of the article dealt with Trump's public statement that thousands of Muslims cheered in the streets in New Jersey when the Trade Centres came down. It didn't happen but the media was blamed for checking on his comment.It didn't stop his supporters from still believing even though no video, pictures,...exist to support this allegation.

[pourfarmer]

http://www.producer.com/2015/11/group-urges-alta-government-to-sell-public-land-2/

The Alberta government should consider selling public land as one way to end conflicts and ensure better conservation, says a new report from the Fraser Institute.