Vivian Krause calls it quits
Opinion
Just like Alexandra Morton has been a thorn in the side of salmon farmers in Canada and elsewhere, Vivian Krause has turned the lives of environmental groups in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada upside down- with the noticed difference of Ms. Krause using factual information. She has exposed the practise of many philanthropic organizations established by wealthy United States industrialists funneling large amounts of money into these Canadian organizations- most of whom have a tax-exempt status for such donations. But under Canadian law, such “charitable” organizations are not supposed to spend more than 10% of their tax-free donations on political activism. The problem is that many of the high profile environmental groups have not followed the rules, often spending large amounts on political fear-mongering and attempts of pressuring governments at all levels to enact restrictive legislation and plans that discourage investment in any resource-based industry like salmon aquaculture and oil- and gas exploration.
By scrutinizing publicly available tax returns in both the United States and Canada, and by digging into research around issues typically used by environmental groups, Vivian Krause was able to shed light on the source of funding making its way from the U.S. foundations to a long list of B.C.-based groups, and also to expose some of the erroneously reported so-called “research” findings and accusations- leading in one case to the removal by the famous David Suzuki Foundation from its web site of a long list of postings and publications related to farmed salmon. An up-coming investigation by the Canadian government into the financial dealings of charitable environmental groups no doubt contributed to the recent resignation of David Suzuki from his own organization, which according to Ms. Krause has received some $ 81 million (~€ 62 million at today’s exchange rate) between 2000 and 2010- $44 million (~€ 34 million) from tax-receipted donations, and with at least $ 13 million (~€ 10 million) coming from American foundations.
Ms. Krause issued a statement on her “Fair Question” blog last Friday, stating- among else;
Dear friends,
It’s time to say thank you and bye for now...
When I started this blog in the fall of 2009, it was a message in a bottle. A lot has happened since then and none of it would have come about without those of you who chimed in. To all of you, thank you very, very much! There's been an inquiry in the Senate of Canada and it looks as if the Canada Revenue Agency will eventually require more transparency from federally-registered charities. Also, the feds have stopped spending millions of our tax dollars on PNCIMA, a "marine planning" initiative funded by an American foundation (with some $29 million (~€ 22.4 million) paid to B.C. enviro groups). Unfortunately, the B.C. government seems to have picked up where the feds left off, but that's another story....
As for David Suzuki and Tides Canada, they never did answer my questions. But at least the David Suzuki Foundation has removed 23 of the 26 press releases & web-pages which I had noted to contain inaccurate or false information. Tides Canada is apparently being audited by the C.R.A. (Canadian Revenue Agency). As some of you may know, I haven't made a lot of money since I started doing the research that I've compiled at this blog. In fact, I haven't made any apart from what I've been paid recently as honorariums for talks. It’s time for me to get a paying job. Hopefully, it will be something at the interface of company and cause, somewhere that I can make a living and make a difference too. (Any leads?)
In closing, I would like to leave you with.... you guessed it, a series of questions. As readers of this blog will know, I have tried to look at the science and the money behind campaigns against two important Canadian industries: salmon farming in B.C. and the oil industry in Alberta. It’s time to go beyond the funding and have a constructive conversation about the future of the environment movement and eco-activism in Canada. Where do we want to be 10 years from now? What are the priority environmental problems that need to be addressed? What is the role of the various conservation strategies such as parks & protected areas, market intervention, regulation & enforcement, etc. How should environmental activism be funded if not by billion-dollar, American foundations? Maybe we need a meeting about the future of the environmental movement and eco-activism in Canada. Just a thought...
