setUoYouRPROFILE's blog: "tufui"

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government blasted critics of its environmental record as "extremists" on Monday as the oil and gas industry launched a new public relations campaign which coincided with civil disobedience on Parliament Hill over a controversial U.S. pipeline expansion project. If approved this year by the Obama administration,gucci outlet the multi-billion dollar Keystone XL project, proposed by Alberta-based TransCanada, would provide a new 3,100-kilometre route for about 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to 15 refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Alberta and federal government officials have touted the project for its economic benefits, including thousands of new jobs in both countries, but environmental groups have turned the project into a debate over expansion in the oilsands sector — which requires large amounts of water, land and energy to extract synthetic oil from Alberta and Saskatchewan's northern bitumen deposits. While First Nations leaders and environmentalists criticized the industry for damaging natural ecosystems from expansion and recent accidents on some pipeline routes from various companies, the government dismissed questions from the opposition about the absence of regulations to crack down on rising emissions. "I certainly take the view that the NDP should stop taking the side of extremists who want to kill Canadian jobs," Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said in an interview. "I'm not saying everyone who's protesting is (an extremist). And everyone who's protesting has a democratic right to get out there and express their view in the public square. This is Canada. I don't have any quarrel with that at all." Oliver made the comments after about 100 protesters from First Nations communities and environmental groups crossed a police barricade on the Parliament Hill lawn and peacefully allowed the RCMP to arrest them for the action. The protesters who were arrested included Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, an advocacy group promoting social justice issues. Many of the protesters chanted for "justice" and to "stop the tarsands," with NDP MP Dennis Bevington and Green party leader Elizabeth May in attendance. Jackie Thomas, the chief of Saik'uz First Nation, a member of the Yinka Dene Alliance, blasted industry executives for trying to buy support through agreements with Aboriginal communities for development projects that would go through their land. "We've seen that routine in Canadian history and we say no," she told the crowd, which also included hundreds who did not cross the barricade. "We say no to the destruction of our land, water and people." While TransCanada officials have said the pipeline will have leading safety standards and efficiency, the main lobby group representing the oil and gas companies began a new marketing offensive in partnership with a former environmentalist, Patrick Moore, who has worked as a paid consultant for industry groups since the 1990s.