The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech

[Oscar]

The Alberta Government Attacks Freedom of Speech

January 11, 2010

The illegal removal of the “No To Nuclear” (NTN) sign on the Dixonville store by Alberta Transportation contractors on December 16 signaled the Province’s intention to trample on our right to free speech. Alberta Transportation issued work orders and sent letters to remove the NTN signs on the same day that Energy Minister Mel Knight announced he would welcome nuclear into Alberta.

The Alberta Government is trying to silence opposition to the proposed nuclear project. They are using our tax dollars to prevent us from speaking out against a project that 85% of the community’s residents are opposed to.

A short recap of Mel Knight’s handling of the nuclear issue is in order before I present the evidence showing Alberta Transportation has targeted anti-nuclear groups.

Provincial Corruption

CORRUPT: immoral or dishonest, especially as shown by the exploitation of a position of power or trust; extremely immoral or depraved.

Energy Minister Mel Knight has been CORRUPT in his handling of the nuclear file since the 2008 provincial election when he repeatedly said: “We are neither proponents nor opponents of nuclear power”.

We found out three weeks after the election that he was not telling the truth when he announced that the Alberta Research Council and the Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory (INNL) signed an agreement to develop nuclear technology for Alberta. There were pictures of Alberta officials visiting INNL facilities on their website earlier in 2007.

Expert Nuclear Panel Report

In May 2008, Mel Knight announced the formation of an “Expert Nuclear Panel” to investigate whether nuclear energy is appropriate for Alberta. The panel was set up to help the province answer questions on environmental, health, safety and waste management issues surrounding nuclear energy.

The report released by Mel Knight in March 2009 did not answer any of these questions. Instead, the report was little more than a nuclear industry advertisement on behalf of nuclear reactors and the merits of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Considering its purported mandate, the Expert Nuclear Panel Report is fraudulent, incomplete and biased.

There were no environmental experts, medical doctors, nuclear opponents or health experts on the panel. The four-man panel did include a Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and their report was based on information supplied by the INNL. Even by Mel Knight's dubious standards, this report is a slap in the face of democracy and the people he was elected to serve.

Provincial Consultation

Shortly after the Expert Nuclear Panel Report was released, Mel Knight announced the format for the provincial consultation. The centerpiece was a workbook and survey for Albertans to fill out. Mel Knight gave Albertans 35 days to educate themselves on nuclear issues before filling in the survey.

Thirty five days was not enough time to learn a subject of this magnitude especially when you consider Albertans had 75 days to comment on license plates and 60 days on parks. To add insult to injury, Mel Knight set the 35-day period during spring planting which essentially prevented the entire rural community from educating themselves and participating. There were no public meetings that allowed the press to be present and there were zero opportunities for Albertans to ask questions about nuclear power.

Still, 3600 Albertans took the time to educate themselves on nuclear issues in order to complete the extensive questionnaire. This survey showed 55% opposed nuclear energy, 28% supported it and 17% wanted it explored on a case by case basis. These were not the results Mel Knight wanted so he decreed that the results of this survey were not "statistically valid".

Instead, he commissioned a random telephone survey of 1024 people who knew virtually nothing about nuclear energy. 45% of respondents wanted nuclear explored on a case-by-case basis, 28% were against it and 19% supported it. It is this telephone survey that Mel Knight is using to justify Albertans’ support for nuclear power. He dismissed the opinions of 3600 well-informed people in favour 1024 uninformed ones.

Nuclear Subsidies

Mel Knight's vow that no public dollars would be invested in any nuclear project is pure nonsense. Taxpayers are required to pay for the cost of transmission lines from Peace River to Edmonton if the nuclear reactors are built. There is no other reason to build this line. The construction and operation of the nuclear reactors will double the size of Peace River. Taxpayers will be on the hook for the infrastructure that has to be built. This in itself would be several billion dollars. Paying for power lines and infrastructure are both direct subsidies to Bruce Power.

Mel Knight’s Announcement

On December 14, 2009, Mel Knight announced that he would let the nuclear project proceed. As previously stated, the basis for his approval was the opinions of 1024 uninformed people (to the exclusion of 3600 well-informed residents). This is the epitome of a “Democratic Deficit”.

The timing of Mel Knight’s announcement left people scratching their head. Premier Stelmach was quoted in a Globe and Mail article on December 11, 2009 saying: “I would like to have the (nuclear) issue concluded by the end of January”. (Katherine O’Neill) Was there no communication between the Premier and Mel Knight or did they change their minds on the date of the announcement over the weekend?

Mel Knight followed the example of other cowardly government officials by making the announcement the week before Christmas when few people are paying attention. The same rationale led them to issuing the order to remove our signs on the day of his announcement. This was further confirmation of Mel Knight’s disregard for the well-being and rights of Albertans in his support of large corporations.

Back To The Signs

The store owners were appalled and called in the RCMP. The RCMP confirmed that no one was allowed to remove a sign on private property, regardless of what it said. The RCMP contacted La Prairie Group; the Alberta Transportation contractor.

According to La Prairie employee, Brad Woods, the whole thing was a misunderstanding. “The misunderstanding was that we had picked up (an anti-nuclear) sign off of the main alignment highway on 35 north. The government boundary went past the inside of the farmer's fence, and we had a work order to pick that sign up, and we misunderstood that we were supposed to pick up the rest of the signs also. (Michelle Higgins, Peace River Gazette, Jan. 5, 2010)

There is no issue at all with La Prairie Group as it was an honest mistake. They apologized to the owners and replaced the sign at their expense.

Alberta Transportation Order

The work order that Mr. Walls misinterpreted came from Alberta Transportation on December 14, 2009; the same day Mel Knight made his announcement. It ordered the removal of the NTN signs on public property. Alberta Transportation would not let Peace River Gazette reporter Michelle Higgins see the work order. (We are preparing A FOIP request for the work order and other pertinent documents.)

Alberta Transportation is legally allowed to remove signs on public property if there is no permit and with this, we have no issue. However, we are very upset and concerned that only NTN signs were targeted. All the “other” non-conforming signs on public property were left in place.

Alberta Transportation Letters

Property owners with NTN signs on their property started receiving letters from Alberta Transportation a few days after Mel Knight’s announcement. The letters, which included an 8.5” X 11” colour picture of the offending sign, asked owners to remove or relocate the offending signs. A few people complied with the letter out of fear of repercussions.

Theresa Van Oort (MD 22 CAO) was copied on the letter sent to people with signs. Ms. Van Oort has her “paw prints” on every aspect of trying to force the nuclear project down our throats. As a protégé of Kelly Bunn, she supplied Mr. Bunn with the letter of support from MD 22 for the nuclear project in 2007. She’s prevented residents from speaking to MD 22 Council on nuclear issues and now she seems to have her paws on the curtailment of our right to free speech. Did Alberta Transportation initiate this attack on the rights of anti-nuclear residents at her urging? Another FOIP?

Visit to Alberta Transportation

On January 6, 2010, five of us went to Alberta Transportation’s offices and met with Gerard Gravel. He was unable to answer many of our questions and some of the information he provided contradicted the evidence we’ve been gathering. This is not to impugn Mr. Gravel, as he may not be aware of the actions of his superiors.

He told us that La Prairie Group was ordered to remove all signs on public property but a La Prairie employee told us (on condition of anonymity) that they were only ordered to take down NTN signs. Indeed, only the anti-nuclear signs were removed. The real estate and other commercial signs were left where they were.

Mr. Gravel told us that letters were sent out to owners of all signs on private property that had no permits. We pointed out to him that this was not true as one farmer with two commercial signs on the same fence-line beside a NTN sign only received a letter about his NTN sign. None of them had permits.

One farmer spotted them measuring the distance the signs were from the centre of the road. As he continued driving, he noticed there were footprints in the snow going to every NTN sign but to no other sign at all, including signs we know aren’t permitted. We went out and took pictures of the tracks to the NTN signs and the undisturbed snow to all other signs.

Mr. Gravel told us the order to prepare the letters was only given recently, though he wouldn’t specify a date. This is not true as some of the pictures of the offending signs were taken in September when the leaves were just starting to turn. Others were taken since the snow and cold came in early December.

We asked Mr. Gravel what the cost of permitting the signs would be. He replied that our signs were deemed improper and that they would not issue a permit for them. He said our signs were on a controversial topic. We asked him who made that decision. He replied that his boss, Mr. Gish had. He would not tell us how much the permit would be due to our signs being improper.

When asked why No Hunting signs were allowed and our NTN signs were not, Mr. Gravel responded that some people don’t want guns shot on their property. We countered by saying we didn’t want radioactive emissions from the nuclear reactors landing on our property.

We asked Mr. Gravel what the repercussions would be if owners didn’t comply with the letters from Alberta Transportation. He evaded answering until the fourth time we asked. Finally, he told us a second letter would be sent out if we didn’t comply. If the second letter wasn’t complied with, they would seek a Ministerial Decree to have the signs removed. He would not give us time-lines on these events.

We also pointed out that the letters referred to our messages as: “the sign containing advertising for NO TO NUCLEAR”. This is not an advertisement, it is our opinion. It is not up to Mr. Gish at Alberta Transportation to decide what we are allowed to think.

Mr. Gish claims that it’s just coincidental that signs were removed and letters sent out right after Mel Knight’s announcement. Yah right! I suppose that it was also coincidence a similar letter was sent to remove the anti-nuclear van parked in Weberville the next business day after we made an unscheduled visit to MLA Oberle’s office in November.

Town of Manning

The Town of Manning got into the act by issuing an order to the Manning Bottle Depot to remove their NTN signs. Instead of complying, the owners formally changed the name of their business to the “No To Nuclear Bottle Depot”.

The Town of Manning sent them a notice that they would have to pay a development fee for their signs. After checking with other local businesses, we realized the Town was targeting them as no one else we spoke to had to pay a development fee on their signs.

What Did it Cost?

What did it cost Albertans for this attack on our freedom of speech? How much money was spent driving around MD 22 taking pictures of signs? What did it cost to send another crew out to measure the signs and take them down? What did it cost for staff to prepare and send out the letters? More than the cost of snacks for mental-health patients?

What Are We Going To Do?

This attack on our right to freedom of speech was the shot in the arm that anti-nuclear forces needed. People on both sides of the nuclear debate are appalled at the conduct of the provincial government. If Mel Knight thinks this will slow us down, he’s delusional. Our response to this government’s corrupt attempt to silence us will be evident very shortly. We will not let the Province give our children’s future to Bruce Power.

Pat McNamara

Weberville Area Connection & Earth Alternatives

These two groups are made up of the farmers living closest to the proposed reactor site and throughout the Municipal District of Northern Lights. We are the people who will be most affected by the nuclear reactors, but we are fighting on behalf of all Albertans who are opposed to nuclear power.

We’ve spent thousands of hours of our personal time and thousand of dollars of our money to stop this senseless project. We could use your help. Donations to help us fight the nuclear project and the provincial government can be sent to: Earth Alternatives, Box 153 North Star, AB, T0H 2T0 Thank You

[Oscar]

Government Admits Targeting Anti-Nuclear Signs – Press Release

Wednesday, February 03, 2010 4:35 PM For Immediate Release

Alberta Transportation Admits Nuclear Signs Were Targeted!

Alberta Transportation confirmed they targeted anti-nuclear signs in the Peace River area for removal. The recorded meeting between Regional Director, Wayne Franklin and two anti-nuclear groups made up of farmers from the area was held in Peace River on February 1, 2010. The evidence presented by the Weberville Area Connection and Earth Alternatives could not be denied or dismissed.
Mr. Franklin’s admission was in stark contrast to the denials and obfuscations put forward by other senior staff at Alberta Transportation during three previous meetings in January.
Mr. Franklin was unable to explain why our anti-nuclear signs were removed and other non-conforming signs weren’t. We are still waiting for an explanation for this breach of policy. We provided pictures showing the non-conforming signs they had to walk past to be able to remove the anti-nuclear signs.
Alberta Transportation maintains that it was only coincidence the order to remove our signs was issued the same day Mel Knight announced the nuclear project could proceed. They claim it was also coincidence that they issued an order to remove our anti-nuclear trailer the business-day after we showed up unannounced at Frank Oberle’s office on November 13, 2009.
We don’t believe in this many coincidences. We will be filing FOIP requests to determine if MLA Frank Oberle or other government official corresponded with Alberta Transportation concerning our anti-nuclear signs.
Alberta Transportation was unable to provide statutes defining acceptable messages on signs, although Mr. Franklin did admit there was no difference between a “No To Nuclear” sign and a “No Hunting” sign.
We’ve committed to ongoing dialogue with Mr. Franklin to resolve this issue and the consequences we’ve suffered as a result. A transcript of the February 1, 2010 meeting is available upon request.
In related news, MP Chris Warkentin agreed to meet with the Weberville Area Connection and Earth Alternatives before he returns to Ottawa to hear our concerns about the Federal Government’s handling of the nuclear situation in Peace River to date. Our foremost concern is that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency have met with surrounding First Nations communities to explain the environmental assessment process, yet they refuse to come to the community that will be most affected. Why are we not being extended the same courtesy and rights? - 30 -
Pat McNamara, Weberville Area Connection entwork@hotmail.com
Brent Reese, Earth Alternatives, (780) 836-3796
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BACKGROUND
On January 6, (2010) five of us met with Gerard Gravel, a senior technologist with 30 years in the Peace River office of Alberta Transportation. He told us that La Prairie Group was ordered to remove all signs on public property but a La Prairie employee told us that they were only ordered to take down “No To Nuclear” (NTN) signs. Indeed, only the anti-nuclear signs were removed. All other signs were left where they were.
Mr. Gravel told us that letters were sent out to owners of all signs on private property that had no permits. We pointed out to him that this was not true as one farmer with two commercial signs on the same fence-line beside a NTN sign only received a letter about his NTN sign. None of them had permits.
We asked Mr. Gravel what the cost of permitting the signs would be. He replied that our signs were deemed improper and that they would not issue a permit for them. He said our signs were too controversial. We asked him who made that decision. He replied that his boss, Mr. Gish had.
Mr. Gravel told us the order to prepare the letters was only given recently, though he wouldn’t specify a date. This is not true as some of the pictures of the offending signs attached to the orders were taken in September when the leaves were just starting to turn. However, they did not send out the letters until the day Mel Knight announced the nuclear project could proceed.
On January 21, 2010, eight of us, mostly farmers averaging over 60 years old, went to Alberta Transportation. At 11:03, we met with Mr. Gish. By 11:09, he refused to answer any of our questions and ordered us out of his office. We told him we weren’t leaving. He got up and said he was going to call the RCMP. We returned to the reception area and didn’t see Mr. Gish again until 2:30 when he came out and told us that the Deputy Minister had offered to buy us coffee and donuts.
Our January 27, 2010 visit to Alberta Transportation finally bore some fruit. Six of us met with Gerard Gravel, as a follow-up to our January 6 meeting with him. Most telling was his comment that in his 30 years there, he could only remember one or possibly two instances where they forced someone to take down a sign.
Mr. Gravel gave us copies of the minutes of our first meeting. We pointed out that the minutes did not include any of the questions we specifically made him write down at our first meeting. There was nothing in the minutes concerning our request for the identity of the provincial employee who decided farmers were not allowed to voice their opinions on their own property.
At our first meeting, Mr. Gravel told us his boss Bill Gish decided the message on our signs was improper. At our second meeting, he told us it was someone in Edmonton whose identity he didn’t know. Why did he change his story?
He tried to explain the missing information from the minutes by saying he might have missed those points. I told him that was not true as we specifically made him write those questions and concerns down. This is why we take six or more people into meetings with officials.
Mr. Gravel was evasive and dishonest through the first half of the meeting but his attitude changed when I told him his name was painted on a sign going up listing “Bruce Power’s Puppets”.
The corrupt behaviour of this government went too far this time. The farmers and concerned citizens are revolting. We will not tolerate being lied to and pushed around any longer. The signs will continue to go up and we will continue to expose the conduct of bureaucrats and elected officials who lie to us and illegally try to take away our rights.
Mr. Gravel did help us understand the massive problem AT is responsible for creating over signs in the province. According to current legislation, no sign in Alberta is allowed within 300 metres of a primary or secondary highway. The only exclusion is commercial signs on their own property and temporary signs for upcoming events. There are literally tens of thousands of illegal signs in Alberta. Why did they pick on ours? It should be noted that the County of Grande Prairie asked AT to order the removal of non-compliant signs along Highway 43, but they refused.
This matter could have been resolved at any of the first three meetings if not for Mr. Gravel’s dishonesty and Mr. Gish’s buffoonery. Statements in the form of Affidavits are being prepared on each of the first three meetings and will be attested to by those of us present at each meeting. They will form the basis for formal complaints against the aforementioned gentlemen. Our time and resources are too limited to have them wasted by bureaucrats trying to hide illegal behaviour on their part by lying to us and threatening to call the RCMP.
As Alberta Transportation was unable to provide any guidelines pertaining to the content of messages on signs, we will continue to install anti-nuclear signs alongside the thousands of non-conforming signs in Alberta.
Pat McNamara