Thread by @readthemaple

THREAD.

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP), a Canadian think-tank, claims it's a myth that "residential schools robbed native kids of their childhood".

oursask.ca/2018/09/23/an-…

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This same think tank publishes fake information climate change. They've published 23 different stories about it.

Here's one arguing that Canada wins if the earth warms, and here's another attacking the public sector.

So why bring attention to these stories? /2

Because the FCPP is connected to the Koch brothers and the Atlas Network. The issues/tactics they use are similar to what libertarian groups do in the US.

We've written about the Atlas Network, the Koch brothers and their influence in Canada here:

https://twitter.com/wearenorth99/status/1043957692782514177

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The FCPP's connections to the Atlas Network are quite substantial. Here's what we've found: /4

The FCPP is one of 12 Canadian organizations that receive funding and support from the Atlas Network.

The Atlas Network gave $204,671 to Canadian orgs in 2016.

The full list can be found here: north99.org/2018/02/08/dar… /5

The FCPP's expert advisory panel includes Roger Douglas, who’s spoken at Atlas Network events and was responsible for deregulating and cutting social services in New Zealand atlasnetwork.org/event/liberty-… /6

Another advisor is David Bieto who spoke at the Cato Institute, a Koch-funded libertarian think tank that's also part of the Atlas Network atlasnetwork.org/event/cato-ins… /7

Up until 2014, Peter McCaffery was a frequent writer at the FCPP: fcpp.org/category/t_pet… /8

Peter is listed on the Atlas Network website as the Director of Research at the Manning Centre (an Atlas partner) and policy analyst at the Fraser Institute (another Atlas partner): atlasnetwork.org/about/people/p… /9

The Atlas Network's website also features the FCPP's Freedom Index. The Index is described as a way to measure threats to personal freedoms from Canadian provinces: atlasnetwork.org/news/article/t… /10

Here's a quote on the Atlas website explaining why the FCPP made the Index:

"This nanny-state approach to social policy is rapidly becoming more than a minor irritation. It is hijacking every facet of government policy, slowly tangling individuals in a web of bureaucracy." /11

That's the FCPP's connections to the Atlas Network. We encourage others to research and uncover more.

But that's not the full story. The FCPP is also connected to PragerU. What is PragerU you might ask? Great question! /12

PragerU is a far-right American online education service promoting Conservative ideas in a slick, well-packaged product.

Buzzfeed does an excellent job of covering PragerU: buzzfeednews.com/article/joseph… /13

PragerU is a highly influential rightwing online education platform. It's generated over 1 billion views and is funded by a rightwing billionaire oil baron who also owns the Conservative website The Daily Wire /14

Speakers on the site include a who’s-who of the international far-right movement, including Ben Shapiro, Dinesh D’Souza, Nigel Farage and Jim DeMint /15

FCPP shared a video from PragerU that claims CO2 isn’t causing climate change /16

The PragerU video features Patrick Moore. Moore is a senior fellow at the FCPP /17

FCPP also shares other questionable American content from far-right sources.

FCPP shared a video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). CEI is a Koch-backed group that is connected to big tobacco: sourcewatch.org/index.php/Comp… /18

FCPP also shared a story from the Institute for Humane Studies, a group funded by the Kochs since the 1960s: sourcewatch.org/index.php/Inst… /19

In summary, the FCPP is connected to the Koch-backed Atlas Network and shares fake news about First Nations and climate change that is sometimes sourced from Koch-backed US groups.

And the FCPP is a charity, so everything is they do is tax deductible! /20