Thread by @sunnshiiny

As I have stated before, sneaking through the back door is the UCP way.

A FN band leadership supports coal mining. The people were never consulted. Elders and community members are now being blocked from having a rally. A deafening silencing of dissent.

globalnews.ca/news/7946424/a…

It’s how corrupt deceptive people work. They pit communities against one another.

Rather than fighting the resource corporation from Australia or the government who approved the plans, people fight each other. Allowing uninterrupted access and destruction. It’s an old trick.

The tactic is known as divide and conquer. It’s been used in history by corporations many many times.

But the public still falls for it, hook line and sinker, every time.

Those in desperate economic strife are easy targets.

Offer a small subgroup of a community rewards for cooperation (say community leaders), and ignore the rest of the community’s feedback.

When the “legal” contracts are discovered by community, social cohesion fractures and infighting becomes the focus. Not the criminals.

This is standard business practice for extractive corporations in developing nations. It’s just called business by them.

The rest of the world recognizes it as the natural resource curse ~ crony capitalism.

Crony capitalism is being introduced by the UCP provincial government.

What are the benefits for removing bans on open pit coal mines in protected areas of Alberta? It’s not corporate taxes, or worker taxes. It’s not land lease sales or royalties. Those are minimal amounts.

So what is it? There has to be incentive to make an unpopular decision.

But first, what is crony capitalism? We all know it as corruption and criminal grift. But what is it really?

It’s when governments provide approvals and tax breaks to corporate interests and there is no benefit to the society they govern.

UCP is employing crony capitalism.

There is no question. Decades old special protection of sensitive land was cancelled and rezoned. Leases were sold for a pittance. Royalties are laughably non existent. Job creation is minimal at best. Water quality and land use of the surrounding area is at high risk.

That’s crony capitalism.

Guaranteed there is a benefit to the UCP that approves such a lopsided contract. Ditto for the band councils that approved this deal. There is something those who approve of this ecological disaster are getting in return for their complicity.

Why else would they do it?

This is typical rent seeking behaviour.

What’s rent seeking?

Rent seeking is making money without actually increasing production or wealth. It’s a distribution scam. Used frequently in developing nations by corporations in extractive industries.

Like mining.

Mining lease approvals are not meant to contribute to Alberta’s economy. It’s meant to make some people very wealthy at the expense of Albertans and the indigenous communities who access the region for traditional practices.

The question is who is gaining wealth?

Once again, history teaches us where to look and that this has been done before. By some of the very same people.

So who bought land leases? Atrum Coal did.

Good place to start is Board of Directors.

Who is working for the shareholders and probably is one as well?

Interesting. Board member Glen Koropchuk. U of A alumni in engineering mining.

Formerly employed by DeBeer’s. Has manipulated indigenous people living in poverty before, under a CPC government (which included Jason Kenney) for diamond extraction.

That’s right. CPC approved the environmental destruction of a pristine lake in Northern Canada, the disruption of Caribou routes, open pit mines, loss of habitat. Because the economic gain was determined to outweigh losses to its destruction.

For whom?

intercontinentalcry.org/indigenous-peo…

The same strategy was used in the diamond mining contract. Coincidentally, the same strategy was used in Wetʼsuwetʼen.

Divide and conquer.

This is conservative business strategy. Gain compliance from desperate people who want to lift their community out of abject poverty.

Offer them jobs, cultural programming, training, economic security for a few years. Don’t bother consulting the community. Just target the leadership. Kind of like how Harper signed a secret FIPA deal with China that removed Canadian sovereignty.

This is standard feature predatory capitalism. Get desperate people to sacrifice their future for a bread crust today. Then use the courts to enforce compliance when those in the community who recognize the implications fight it.

That’s how cons do business, and how con governments assist them by providing approvals, removing tax burdens, lowering royalties and maximizing the profits to extractive industries.

But ideology isn’t the motivating factor. It’s always money.

Who is getting wealthy?

Who within UCP is benefitting by making such unpopular policies?

Good question.

Find that information and you’ll have a better chance of “stopping the steal” to borrow an overused phrase and apply it to actual stealing.

This is a crime.

No less a crime than it was in Wetʼsuwetʼen. No less a crime than it’s use across Canada as standard business practice while CPC was in power. And BC Liberals, and UCP, and Sask Party, and MPC, and ONPC.

This is how conservatives do business. Everybody gets a slice of the cake.

Except the owners of the resources.

Prosperity is reserved for people who share your ideology.

That’s rent seeking.
Crony capitalism.
Vulture capitalism.
Anarcho-capitalism.

And you though imperialism was done? It’s never ceased to exist.

Conservatives venerate those that can swindle resources out of the hands of owners for pennies on the dollar. Like minded governments help as much as they can. Then they divvy up the profiteered wealth amongst themselves.

Leaving a divided population full of conflict, strife and a collapsing economy. No taxes, no benefits to society except for a small group of desperate people seeking relief from poverty.

I’ve said this many times before. UCP needs to be removed from power ASAP.

There won’t be anything left of Albertans for Albertans in 23 months.

Coal extraction is just the beginning. That’s how kleptocratic political parties work. They make oligarchs and take a cut of the profits. Like Russia.

Follow the money. Because it’s always about the money.

UCP is enabling corporatism, which is a form of fascism and autocracy.

When are people going to open their eyes?

UCP is not a democratic party.

UCP are 21st century FASCISTS. They need to be extracted from power. ASAP!

Can we get to that task soon, please?

After I wrote this thread this news came out.

Métis Nation of Alberta was not consulted about coal mining. But region 3 Métis Nation in Alberta signed on in support of sheering off a mountain top.

globalnews.ca/news/7948414/m…

Divide and conquer. That’s as good a reason as any to scrap the consultation process for Métis indigenous community. Because you then aren’t required to deal with the leader of the nation. Just the regional representative. Who doesn’t have the authority to provide approval.

And since there is no consultation agreement between the provincial government and Métis Nation of Alberta, that makes sneaking through the back door legally possible. And legally enforceable.

@AlbertaMetis @MNC_tweets

Thought you should see this.