Throwback Thursday to that time when Shannon Phillips dodged questions from Mr Stier in the leg, and proceeded to implement South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) amendments and sham consultations that stacked the deck with ENGO lobbyist interests - like this letter from CPAWS and former Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Director Katie Morrison. The SSRP sham consultation feedback was noted by the government to have extremely unhappy stakeholders (except for mostly ENGO lobbyists and some ranchers, and quiet recreationalists like ORCA). Southern Albertans, we will not let the rest of the province sweep what happened to you under the rug. We trust the UCP to come up with a more commonsense approach in due course amidst all the other priorities they are working on. Read up on the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) and 2018 SSRP amendments so you can see what happened for yourself. 2018 amendments.
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ORCA - The New Group Formed "To Weigh in On Crown Land Use", Arguing GoA Has "Not Heard From Enough Individual Non-Motorized Recreation Users" Smells And Looks An Awful Lot Like The Usual ENGO Lobbyists in Alberta", And Apparently Scrubbed It's Board Members List Since Part 1 Was Posted:
Building on Part 1 linked here if you have not read it: https://www.facebook.com/186164758598909/posts/369702180245165/ As well as another cheap shot divisive propaganda video made by Alberta Wilderness Association linked here: https://www.facebook.com/186164758598909/posts/370354543513262/ We delved deeper into the 'Quiet Recreation' and ORCA file. We found that this newly established group set up while the South public land Lobbying was going on has not only stacked itself with representation from other groups already sitting on SARAG (Y2Y, BHA, AHA), but it also copied their exact same lingo for lobbying with their pre filled out letters and calls for grassroots support. See pictures. SARAG has some serious concerns to be addressed! Interestingly, in a seemingly subtle response to Part 1 they have scrubbed some names off their Interim Board list. Neil Keown of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers makes sense as they've been covered in detail here before. But who is David Mills and why was he removed over Y2Y's Connie Simmons, Alf Skrastins (founder of the UofC Outdoor Centre $$$), David Wasserman (Former Chair of Alberta Hiking Association, President of Grant McEwan Mountain Club in Edmonton)? It seems that there are quite a few from AHA heavily involved in land use matters on multiple groups. If you recall there was Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute and ABMI, who also owns an accommodations property in Nordegg, is the Non-Motorized rep for the Bighorn Standing Committee, and is married to an AEP Integrated Resource Planner working on "planning and supporting regional planning under the land use framework" (funny that the scrapping of the land use framework NSRP for the Bighorn Proposal was supported by AHA and most ENGO lobbyists). Talk about conflict of interest! There was also Marla Zapach of Nordegg, former Chair of AHA, referenced by name by SP in the leg to justify the NDP Bighorn plan, lucky caller to get through on the 1 hour telephone preselected calls, supporter of the Livingstone Landowners Guild, and owner of an eco tourism business in Nordegg. Folks, the layers to this onion are immense and it will take some time to unpack and report. In the meantime, seek as much information as you can find on the SSRP amendments of 2015, the SARAG meetings, and quiet recreation. As always pay attention to the names and groups, and google them. Their cross affiliations almost always lead somewhere intriguing. We are told that Rob Simieritsch is the AEP Regional Resource Manager for the SSRP you want to talk to. He is also a board member of Miistakis Institute, a Y2Y partner and recipient of Wilburforce funding (along with Y2Y, CPAWS, BHA, Tides Canada, and others). We know, that's pretty messed up. More on that to follow! Thanks for staying engaged! The spotlight on the SSRP is just beginning. Good thing we spent a year gathering files before websites started getting scrubbed. While the War Room and @Vivian Krause is tracking the flow of foreign money into Alberta to lobby government policies that land lock Alberta, we hope they are aware of and are planning to address the fact that this is DIRECTLY TIED TO land use, and this is HOW THE MONEY IS BEING SPENT BY RECIPIENTS. We need to focus on changing policies to limit the ability of foreign influence such a the Lobbyist Act. Afterall, according to Vivian, "Back in 2004, Wilburforce stipulated that the purpose of funding Y2Y was to protect the region “from oil and gas development, through an advocacy campaign that focuses on grizzly bears and critical wildlife habitat,” tax returns say. " http://mpda.ca/…/following-the-primarily-u-s-money-funding…/ UCP: if this is not on your radar then it better be now. It's time to converge the energy file with the public lands file! According to the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of Alberta (ORCA) "We provide a voice for quiet recreationists in Alberta at land-use and recreation management planning initiatives in Alberta. ORCA’s voice is intended to speak for the needs of thousands of Albertans who love to hike, bike, cross-country ski, snowshoe, paddle, ride horses, hunt, fish – all using muscle power to engage and enjoy their chosen recreation pursuit." and "We are a representative organization for ‘quiet recreationists’ (non-motorized) in Alberta who bring a principled, informed and coherent voice to land-use and recreation management processes." They also describe themselves as the "Quiet Outdoor Recreation Community" that promotes "recreation activities that use human muscle or domesticated animal power for recreation activities."
'Quiet Recreation' Part 1: Self Righteous and Prejudice Discrimination Against Motorized Access Based on Agenda Driven Lobbying and Inconclusive Science? Google "quiet recreation" AND a few terms like "ssrp", "Livingstone", "Castle", "Porcupine Hills", Bighorn", "Alberta", etc and browse what you see. We've included some of the results in the comments. What you will come to see is not only many household names in the agenda driven ENGO lobbying arena, but also what appears to be a calculated effort of many elitist groups and individuals to create a movement for their preferred form of recreation and eco tourism, over one they appear to disdain. Look closely at the language used, group names, boards of directors, cross support and representations on government committees like SARAG (Southern Alberta Recreation Advisory Group), financial support from agenda driven foundations outside of Canada, financial stake of many involved (think accommodations and eco tourism companies), coverage in the media, and other concerning points. A clearer picture of a seemingly long term calculated deck stacking against an unsuspecting group of recreational users begins to emerge as one sees the patterns. One can almost begin to see beyond just the funding, and perhaps get a glimpse into WHAT this funding is being spent on; an extensive, seemingly grassroots Alliance for lobbying via the bureacracy to implement their activist objectives. Take a closer look into the visions, annual reports and funding, communications, committees, lobby efforts etc of these groups to see how they have effectively worked their way into positions of influence, shaping public opinion, and moreover, policy. As governernments change, it appears the modus operandi is to skip straight to influencing the bureaucracy who really holds the power in terms of specific land use policy. One example of this cross representative deck stacking is the SARAG process. Here is a group of stakeholders that is supposed to represent the plethora of interests in the province. Yet there are multiple layers of overlap, vastly limiting the actual representative dynamics of the group. Ask yourself: do you feel represented down South? One group representing non motorized use is the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of Alberta (ORCA). They seem broad and representative right? Well they limit their representation to being the "voice for quiet recreationalists in Alberta" and go on to clarify their camp excludes motorized interests. Do they walk and ride bikes to their staging areas? Are they whispering only on their trips? Do they use silent high frequency bear deterrent systems? Looking at their Board, two names come up that give them double representation at SARAG. The first is Director Connie Simmons of Y2Y and the second is Neil Keown of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Both organizations already have official seats at SARAG. Interestingly, a BHA director, who is also a CPAWS director is named as the Y2Y contact on SARAG (Katie Morrison). Who else has double representation on this and other groups? In future segments of this series we will look at the groups in Bighorn and see what cross representations and financial gains their members have (we know of 2 high profile members now that are members of AHA, and they have quite interesting roles in the Bighorn lobby effort, and another made the news around the time Phillips lied about the RCMP to cancel the public meetings). I don't know about you, but many recreation users I know use motorized access to also get to places where we can enjoy this so called quiet recreation. Rather than hike areas where parking lots are full and we see countless people on trails talking blocking trails for pictures, we like to use our sxs to get 30-50 kms back far away from anyone. Talk about quiet recreation! We load the MTN bikes and shuttle to the top of our hills and ride down, just like people do at places in Bragg Creek etc. Is their motorized access more quiet or important than ours? I think groups like CPAWS have something different in mind when they say motorized use is ok as long as among other things it does not "disturb quiet recreationalists." What gives these lobbyists posing as charities the right to dictate who constitutes enjoyment of quiet recreation and to what extent? These elitist, self righteous, agenda driven lobbyists must be exposed for their apparent self interested efforts to displace groups they misrepresent and villiainize. In part 2 we will be discussing the Livingstone Landowners Group among other quiet recreation advocates. You'll recognize some of those names like Kevin Van Tighem, who has had many articles in the news talking about motorized use, some of which included the seemingly staunch anti motorized access Lorne Fitch. Please take the time to review the pics and do this Google search. It will be important to know the back story when we discuss the forthcoming players and processes. This is why we need the War Room the UCP promised. In their investigations into the foreign influence in our province they could use our support and feedback. Similar to the oil and gas lobbying, this extension of what the money is spent on and what the specific processes entail are of quintessential importance to be investigated. We can kick the dead horse all day long, but eventually it has to be taken away and disposed of. |
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August 2019
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