Full text of Jason Kenney's response to Amnesty's criticism of his 'fight back' strategy
Amnesty International warned Kenney his aggressive approach in defending the oil and gas industry puts human rights at risk. The premier had a caustic response.
"There was a reason I singled Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela for comparison. They - along with Iran - would be major beneficiaries of a moratorium on Canadian oil production. No one will cheer your letter harder than Vladimir Putin, the Houses of Saud and Al Thani, the caudillo Nicolás Maduro, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. OPEC's oleo-gopolists will be chuckling from their gilded palaces at your naïveté.
Demand for oil is not going away soon. Every credible estimate shows
several more decades of strong oil demand, and the world is going to get it
from somewhere. Shutting down Alberta's oil industry means more global supply -
including much of the oil imported to Canada's east coast - will be sourced
from the world's worst human rights abusers, instead of from the most ethical
and best-regulated industry in one of the freest countries in the world. The
net result of the campaign to landlock Canada's oil and gas reserves, in which
(to use an old but apt term) you are playing the role of useful idiot, will be to
take money out of the pockets of Alberta workers to line the silk pockets of
men who commit enough human rights abuses before breakfast to keep Amnesty
International busy for a year.