Enemy of the State - ForestEthics? Really?

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"At the very highest levels of this government, Canadians who have a legitimate concern about this oilsands pipeline are being called enemies of the government of Canada and enemies of the people of Canada. And that's the language of anti-terrorism.

"When a government calls its own citizens enemies, you've lost your moral authority to govern."

So ends a story published in the Winnipeg Free Press, about an affidavit signed by Andrew Frank, a former communications advisor at ForestEthics, for Canadian Press. Whistle-blower Frank went public with explosive allegations that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was demanding that Tides Canada stop funding Forest Ethics as an "enemy of the state," due to its market campaigns against the tar sands and efforts to oppose the Enbridge Pipeline at the Joint Review hearings. You can read his Open Letter to Canadians here. Valerie Langer of ForestEthics has released a statement condemning the government attempt at intimidation.

The incident is particularly ironic and disturbing due to ForestEthics' reputation in some deep green circles as being too willing to find compromise with corporate interests.