Canada Vote: Not About Oil, Al

Former VP Al Gore warns Canadians to keep their eye on their newly elected leader.

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has accused the oil industry of financially backing the Tories and their “ultra-conservative leader” to protect its stake in Alberta’s lucrative oilsands.

Canadians, Gore said, should vigilantly keep watch over prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord — an international agreement to combat climate change.

“The election in Canada was partly about the tar sands projects in Alberta,” Gore said Wednesday while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

“And the financial interests behind the tar sands project poured a lot of money and support behind an ultra-conservative leader in order to win the election . . . and to protect their interests.”

If Gore new anything about how elections work in Canada, he would have thought twice about making this stupid speech.

Darcie Park, spokeswoman for oilsands giant Suncor Energy, said she’s taken aback by Gore’s remarks and hopes they don’t resonate with Canadians.

“Our company just doesn’t do business that way. We’re really puzzled about where these comments came from,” she said.

“Canadians understand how elections work in Canada and understand there are these very tight restrictions around what individuals and companies can contribute to individual parties or campaigns.”

The federal Elections Act limits how much money individuals, corporations and unions can donate to political parties. Individuals are allowed to give as much as $5,000 a year, while companies and unions are capped at $1,000 a year.

Who died and made Algore the foremost expert on Canadian politics? And who does he think he is, butting into Canada’s business?

It smells like fear to me. Fear of conservatism. Not only is it taking hold in the United States, but now Canada, a place moonbats considered refuge. What’s this world coming to?

Well, there’s still France.