The National Post made it a front page story this morning. Good on them. Ezra can sometimes come off like a stand up comic, but what happened in this case is outrageous.
Is Saudi Arabia losing its cool over Canada’s growing oil sands? It certainly seems that way, based on the Middle East kingdom’s bizarre over-reaction to television
commercials that promote Canada’s “ethical oil,” in contrast to oil coming from Saudi Arabia, a regime that oppresses women.
The commercials are sponsored by a tiny grassroots organization based in Toronto, EthicalOil.org, that encourages consumers to favour “ethical” oil from Canada over “conflict” oil that comes from undemocratic regimes, where most of the world’s oil reserves are located.
EthicalOil.org ran the commercials on the Oprah Winfrey Network in Canada in late August. The Saudis responded by hiring lawyers to tell the Television Bureau of Canada, the advertising review and clearance service funded by Canada’s private broadcasters, to withdraw approval of the ads.
The group was so outraged by the Saudis’ “intimidation tactics” it started running the commercials again this week on the Sun News Network and was planning to run them on CTV, until the network backed out, said Alykhan Velshi, executive director of EthicalOil.org.
In an e-mailed statement, CTV’s director of communications, Matthew Garrow, confirmed CTV News Channel received an order for an ad from Ethical Oil: “As the ad in question is the subject of a legal dispute between Ethical Oil and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the advisement of our legal department we will not accept the order until the matter is resolved,” the statement says.
Now politicians are pushing back.
Saudis ripped for trying to block pro-oil sands ad
Chris Wattie/Reuters
Jason Kenney called the Saudi Arabia’s attempt to block a pro-oil sands commercial “inappropriate and certainly inconsistent with Canada’s belief in freedom of speech.”
Sep 21, 2011 – 8:00 PM ET
Saudi Arabia’s attempt to block a pro-oil sands TV ad with a cease-and-desist request has sparked a diplomatic spat between the two oil-rich nations, with Canadian officials condemning Saudi actions as an act of “foreign interference.”
Jason Kenney, minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, told reporters the Saudi actions were “inappropriate and certainly inconsistent with Canada’s belief in freedom of speech.” A statement from the office of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that he would defend the right of “the press and third-party organizations … to speak their minds.”
Even NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said the Saudis “should stick to regulating their own affairs.”
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