Guilt by association

The CP reports that having long ago slashed direct funding for environmental initiatives, the Cons are now apparently refusing to fund a non-partisan environmental communications mechanism based on the fact that its work may indirectly help groups who have rightly expressed their concerns about the Cons' policy of neglect:

The Canadian Environmental Network, a backbone of communications within Canada's environmental movement, has warned its staff they may be laid off next week because of federal funding cuts.

The CEN is not well known because it is non-political and does not take a stand on issues, but it plays a vital role for hundreds of environmental groups, especially smaller ones that don't have the budget for networking and communications.

The organization also sets up consultations for the federal government, and has been used repeatedly to assemble so-called "multi-stakeholder groups," including environmentalists, industry people and others, to debate various issues.

CEN member groups do take political positions, which could be a source of unhappiness on the government side.

Steve Rison, chair of the group's board of directors, warned staff their jobs were at risk in an e-mail obtained by The Canadian Press.

In the memo, he says operational funding is normally obtained annually based on an April-to-March fiscal year, but no funding has been received since April 1, nor is there any assurance it will be provided...

This funding situation is creating an untenable position for the CEN and its directors. The CEN has continued to incur obligations for staff salaries and overhead expenses while receiving no payments from Environment Canada," says the document...

Mike Van Soelen, spokesman for Environment Minister John Baird, said the government is reviewing the CEN's work and considering other methods of staying in touch with the environmental movement...

Asked whether the CEN has been performing well in the government's view, he said "our department is looking at the work they've done and our government is going to be making a decision shortly."

Naturally, the Cons are going out of their way to avoid making a strong statement that they'll never reinstate funding - presumably to allow themselves the option of reversing course if there's enough public outcry. But it should be obvious that if the Cons were genuinely interested in conducting a fair and reasonable analysis of the CEN, they would have finished that job long before the beginning of the fiscal year - rather than bleeding the CEN dry by simply cutting off funding without any apparent notice or justification.

Instead, there's every reason to think that the CEN is being punished merely for providing nonpartisan assistance to environmental groups. And that apparent motivation can only lead to reason for suspicion that any different group set up by Baird to carry out the CEN's current role will be designed to ensure that only Con-friendly information makes its way into the public eye.