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Bruce Carson Scandal Greased by Harper’s Oil Sands Agenda
News Articles Featured | The Tyee | April 27, 2011
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Everyone loves a good political scandal and the Bruce Carson affair squarely fits the bill.
A 66-year-old former senior policy advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemingly lobbies the government on behalf of his 22-year fiancée, a former sex worker.
She dresses in sexy lingerie. Newspapers publish lurid photos.
Ottawa talks, yet its busy gossipers recognize Carson as your average political fixer with an active sex life and a couple of criminal convictions.
Everyone that is, except the Prime Minister. Harper, a tough guy on crime, acts appalled and abruptly refers the whole matter to the RCMP.
The scandal seemingly ends.
But that’s not the full truth, let alone the real scandal.
In fact, the Bruce Carson affair is a much darker tale about the character of the Harper government and its abuse of the public trust.
And it goes like this: Harper’s key political troubleshooter and problem fixer gets lobbied for money for a new university think tank.
He then leaves the Prime Minister’s Office and becomes executive director of that same think tank: the Canada School of Energy and the Environment.
It’s mostly funded by a $15-million grant from the Harper government.
The former senior advisor alters the school’s mandate to permit government lobbying and policy development on the oil sands.
He then lobbies for more federal money, $25 million, and gets it.
He also works for several of his former associates (three cabinet ministers) and directs a joint industry and government campaign to improve the image of the oil sands industry.
Keep reading this article on The Tyee
Tagged with: canada, harper, bruce carson
