Media advisory - European Lobby Busting Tour Debunks Government and Industry Oil Sands Advocacy Spin

OTTAWA, March 15, 2012 /CNW/ -

WHAT:  A Canadian delegation that includes a First Nation's Chief and representatives of environmental and social justice organizations is heading to Europe to counter Canada's bully and confuse lobbying campaign against the European Union Fuel Quality Directive (FQD).  A series of meetings with government officials and media events are planned where the delegation will deliver a kit of information challenging Canadian lobbying misconceptions and demonstrating Canadian support for the Directive.

WHERE:  On the heels of the recent EU FQD vote that places the fate of the Directive in the hands of publicly elected Ministers, the delegation will travel to France, the Netherlands, UK and Germany. These four countries abstained from a recent vote on the FQD, providing the opportunity for further dialogue in the lead up to the expected vote this June. 

WHEN: 

March 19: Paris, France
March 20-21: The Hague, Netherlands
March 22: London, UK
March 23-26: Berlin, Germany

WHO:  The Canadian delegation includes Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner with the Council of Canadians, Hannah McKinnon, Campaigns Director with Climate Action Network Canada and Bill Erasmus, National Dene Chief and Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief of the Northwest Territories. In Paris, Steven Guilbeault Coordonnateur Général Adjoint, Équiterre will join the delegation.

WHY:  The Canadian Government, along with industry allies and the Alberta Government, have launched a coordinated lobby attack run as the "Pan European Oil Sands Advocacy Strategy" against the EU FQD. Committed to reckless expansion in Canada's tar sands, this attack has included over 110 meetings in 2010 alone and focuses on cleaning up the tar sands image while doing nothing about the tar sands themselves. The tour is sponsored by the Council of Canadians, Climate Action Network Canada and the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613 795-8685, [email protected] Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs

Clayton Thomas-Muller, Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign Director - Indigenous Environmental Network [phone] [email protected] Twitter: @claytonIEN Hannah McKinnon, Campaigns Director, Climate Action Network Canada, [phone] [email protected]