Provincial and national media are finally paying attention to what this column has reported occasionally for a decade 害羞草研究所� they are being played by well-funded professional protesters targeting Canadian energy projects.

This belated realization is sparked by a document leaked to the B.C. Liberal opposition about 害羞草研究所渄irect action害羞草研究所� protests against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. It describes a secretive organization designed to create an impression of grassroots opposition.

The document is called the 害羞草研究所淎ction Hive Proposal,害羞草研究所� and the author turns out to be one Cam Fenton, who works for , a climate protest organization based in Oakland, California. Fenton says it was written before a kayak protest in Vancouver last fall, and doesn害羞草研究所檛 try to pretend that it害羞草研究所檚 no longer in effect.

(See full document below.)

It describes a 害羞草研究所渉ive害羞草研究所� or central organization that requires 害羞草研究所渟taff-driven害羞草研究所� participants to contribute money and staff, plus participation in weekly meetings. It directs everyone to use 害羞草研究所渄igital security害羞草研究所� such as a disappearing message service or phone calls to make sure things aren害羞草研究所檛 too transparent.

The 害羞草研究所渉ive害羞草研究所� directs a 害羞草研究所渟warm害羞草研究所� of smaller groups, and here害羞草研究所檚 a key strategy:

害羞草研究所淭his group is an organizational structure, not a brand. We will not have a brand or presence in public beyond what is necessary to achieve our goals.害羞草研究所�

Environment Minister George Heyman, who ran the B.C. branch office of California-based Sierra Club before being elected for the NDP, resorted to evasions and threats when asked about this document in the legislature. He attended a dinner on Bowen Island with representatives of this 害羞草研究所渉ive害羞草研究所� on Jan. 30, the same day he released a five-point plan to deter further oil transport from Alberta.

This sparked immediate retaliation from Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who banned B.C. wine from entering the province and threatened further actions. Notley, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr all bluntly reminded the B.C. government that it has no authority to interfere with a federally approved pipeline project running from one province to another.

This blew up while Premier John Horgan was on a trade mission in Asia that included efforts to carry on with liquefied natural gas exports. After Horgan got back, the most offensive part of Heyman害羞草研究所檚 scheme was pulled back, replaced by the latest of a series of taxpayer-funded court actions approved by the NDP, like the one that pretends Burnaby害羞草研究所檚 bylaws can override federal law.

I害羞草研究所檝e reported on earlier efforts of this kind, like the American-funded near Prince Rupert run by a couple of rifle-toting, tree-spiking guys whose Indigenous claim to the area is, to put it politely, disputed.

The 害羞草研究所渟warm害羞草研究所� and 害羞草研究所渉ive害羞草研究所� model was also on display in the latest round of anti-logging protests in the Walbran Valley. Front groups like Sierra and Council of Canadians stage in town, while denying any knowledge of direct action soldiers blundering into legally permitted logging projects to lock themselves to equipment and try to provoke fights with loggers.

Independent researcher Vivian Krause, who revealed the 2008 U.S. strategy to 害羞草研究所渓andlock害羞草研究所� Alberta oil, notes that was originally funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a charitable foundation started by the heirs to the Standard Oil fortune.

Reminder: the day after the B.C. Greens and NDP made their minority government deal, a pair of Greenpeace employees climbed a flagpole in front of the B.C. legislature and put up their own banner. It read: 害羞草研究所淧eople power: 1 Kinder Morgan: 0.害羞草研究所�

The manufactured 害羞草研究所減eople power害羞草研究所� has begun, with TV following along to make it all appear spontaneous and grassroots, as planned.

Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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