Canada PoliticsJoe Oliver accuses Al Gore of making “wildly inaccurate and exaggerated comments”
A couple of weeks ago it was a rocket scientist; this week it's former Vice President Al Gore.
Canada's Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver seems to have taken it upon himself to slay any and all opponents of the proposed Keystone Pipeline project — metaphorically speaking of course.
[ Related: Majority of Canadians, Americans support the Keystone XL pipeline ]
On Saturday, the Globe and Mail published an in-depth interview with Gore about his new book titled 'The Future — Six Drivers of Global Change.' Invariably, the topic of discussion included Canada and the Keystone Pipeline:
The so-called resource curse is most often understood in the context of small nations whose revenue streams are dominated by the exploitation of a single resource. It’s a bit more complex than that with Canada, but the resource curse has multiple dimensions and [that includes] damage to some extremely beautiful landscapes, not to mention the core issue of adding to the reckless spewing of pollution into the Earth’s atmosphere as if it’s an open sewer.
We will come to our senses, but I had hoped that Canada, like Australia, would point us in the right direction and added to the chances for the world as a whole to make a moral and courageous decision sooner rather than later.
In response to Gore's comments, Oliver told the Globe that Gore is "off the mark" and accused him of making "wildly inaccurate and exaggerated comments."
"Using words like ‘open sewer’ are unfortunate and an attempt to create an impression which is false," Oliver said claiming that Canada has reduced emissions.
"We’ve done a lot, we’re going to do more. I’m very proud of our record, and it’s a record that we’re happy to stand on."
On Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal, Oliver continued:
"If [people] make statements that are clearly exaggerated and untrue, we have to set the record straight," he said from France.
"If [Mr. Gore] goes beyond the facts, then I should call him on that, or else those comments are out there, unopposed. That’s not in the national interest to let inaccurate accusations stand there, uncorrected."
[ Related: Joe Oliver is “making Canada look like a country full of jerks” says a top Canadian scientist ]
Oliver might want to enlist the services of the American conservatives to help discredit Gore.
In 2010, right-leaning Americans chided the former VP and climate activist for purchasing a mansion which some say has a larger "carbon footprint bigger than many small towns in America."
Earlier this year, Gore was called a hypocrite for selling Current TV — the television network he co-founded — to Al Jazeera which is funded by oil rich Qatar.
And on Monday, Bloomberg reported that the left leaning 'man of the people' is worth more than $200 million making him almost as rich as former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)
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