In a sworn affidavit released Tuesday to The Canadian Press, Andrew Frank says he was told by his supervisor at ForestEthics that a PMO official had referred to their organization as an "enemy of the state." The affidavit describes how staff were told their jobs were at risk after the official told Tides Canada, which supports the work of ForestEthics, that the government would "take down" all of the agency's projects unless it cut ForestEthics loose.
Frank says he was fired from his job as communications adviser at ForestEthics on Monday over his plans to go public. His affidavit details a series of conversations allegedly held in early January between ForestEthics and Tides staff.
Mr Frank's open letter follows-
A Whistleblower’s Open
Letter to the Citizens of Canada
My name is Andrew Frank. I
grew up in a small town in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia.
My granddad taught me how to fish. My father was a well‐respected
lawyer known for his unwavering integrity, and my mother was a
favourite kindergarten teacher. Both have always impressed upon me
the importance of telling the truth. Today, I am taking the
extraordinary step of risking my career, my reputation and my
personal friendships, to act as a whistleblower and expose the
undemocratic and potentially illegal pressure the Harper government
has apparently applied to silence critics of the Enbridge Northern
Gateway oil tanker/pipeline plan.
As I have detailed in a
sworn affidavit, no less than three senior managers with Tides Canada
and ForestEthics (a charitable project of Tides Canada), have
informed me, as the Senior Communications Manager for ForestEthics,
that Tides Canada CEO, Ross McMillan,was informed by the Prime
Minister’s Office, that ForestEthics is considered an “Enemy
of the Government of Canada,” and an “Enemy of the
people of Canada.”This language was apparently part of a threat
by the Prime Minister’s Office to challenge the charitable
status of Tides Canada if it did not agree to stop funding
ForestEthics,specifically its work opposing oil sands expansion and
construction of oils and tanker/pipeline routes in Canada. This is
especially concerning because ForestEthics is a legally registered
intervenor in the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel
process, currently examining the Enbridge oil tanker/pipeline
proposal. By attempting to silence a registered participant in the
review, I fear the Harper government may have permanently damaged the
integrity of this process.
After waiting more than
two weeks for Tides Canada to go public with this story, it has
become clear to me that the organization is too afraid of reprisals
from the government to act. Tides is responsible for the employment
of hundreds of Canadians and dozens of crucial environmental
projects like the Great Bear Rainforest, and has been understandably
paralyzed in challenging the Prime Minister’s Office on this
matter. I on the other hand, am speaking out as a private citizen
because I feel that the rights and civil liberties of my fellow
Canadian citizens, including freedom of expression and freedom of
speech, are at risk. There was a look of fear and disbelief on my
fellow staff members’ faces the day they were told our own
government had labelled them enemies of the state. Our administration
coordinator had tears in her eyes. In the days that followed, our
employees couldn’t sleep well. They lost their appetites, and
they began to fear for their own personal safety and civil liberties,
and those of their families and loved ones. They began looking over
their shoulder, out of fear and paranoia, because their own
government might be watching them.
The language of
anti‐terrorism, when applied to Canadian citizens who
legitimately question the wisdom of an unsustainable oil
tanker/pipeline plan, is an affront to the rights of all Canadians.
It is the language of bullying. It is language that is violent and
above the law, and harkens to previous examples of RCMP surveillance
of Canadians for political rather than legal purposes, including
Tommy Douglas. The casual use of such loaded language at the top of
our government is immoral, unethical and probably illegal. A strongly
opposed oil tanker/pipeline plan is now the least of this
government’s worries. In its heavy‐handed attempt to
override public opposition, the government has breached the public’s
trust. I now invite Canadians, including the media and members of the
House of Commons, to challenge the unacceptable behaviour described
in this letter and sworn in my affidavit.
Approximately three weeks
from now, Mr. Harper will visit China on an official state visit. In
China, Amnesty International asserts that a half‐million
“enemies of the government” are held in prisons without
charge. If the argument in favour of the Enbridge pipeline is that
Canada stands to make billions selling oil to an oppressive Chinese
government, then my answer is “no thank you.” That’s
not “ethical oil,” especially when profiting from this
oil wealth requires repressive tactics against critical citizens ‐
tactics we would normally associate with the Chinese state,
not Canada. The events of the last month have ensured that I
will never take my rights as a Canadian citizen for granted again.
That is both sad and encouraging. Sad that I ever had to question
them, and encouraging because I have been reminded of another lesson
taught to me by my parents: the best way to stop a bully is to stand
up to him. I invite you to join me in expressing your voice on what
is perhaps the most pressing moral crisis facing our nation today.
Together we can hold this
government to account and prevent the dismantling of Canadian civil
society and the further erosion of citizens’ rights.
Andrew Frank is a Canadian
citizen, and the former Senior Communications Manager with
ForestEthics Canada. He is also an instructor in the Environmental
Protection Technology program at Kwantlen Polytechnic
University, in Surrey, British Columbia.
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