Hacks Drill Us.....

53 degrees 0' 0" North - 132 degrees 0' 0" W

From Sean Holman at Public Eye

"The provincial government has awarded Shaw Communications Inc. a $77,000 contract to produce and air two televised town hall meetings on the impact of offshore oil and gas development.....

"Former CHEK TV legislative reporter Robin Adair, a government relations consultant with WCG International Consultants Ltd. and Victoria Chamber of Commerce vice-president, was subcontracted by Shaw to find and schedule panelists for the show...."

So, if Mr. Adair is already a government public relations consultant and he is being subcontracted by Shaw to stack the panel for the government while being paid with govt' money awarded to Shaw, is this an example of P3 cubed?

One would like to think not, at least if you were to take the statements of Steve Simons at face value.

"...according to Offshore Oil and Gas Team communications director Steve Simons, those meetings won't be broadcast until after the federal election because the government doesn't "want to stir the pot." Mr. Simons also says the province is taking a hands-off approach to the project."

One of the problems with Mr Simons' propaganda, however, is the following: the Offshore Oil and Gas Team that Mr Simons shills for is itself nothing more than a Neo-Lib PR scam that with a $6 million per annum budget completely funded by us.

And it gets worse. Specifically, the Offshore Oil and Gas Shills have been described, by that notoriously anti capitalist rag the Globe and Mail, as.....

"A B.C. government "swat team" is devising detailed policies for oil and gas drilling near the Queen Charlotte Islands, hoping to entice energy giants to exploit offshore riches.

Hacks indeed.....setting us, and our environment, up to be drilled by the Multinational Resource Extractors all over again, and with our own money no less.