The Strathmere Group 4 (b)

Eco-Warriors spent to Influence Voters in the last Federal election

Examining the 12 members of the Strathmere Group’s financial statements filed with the CRA is an interesting exercise.  As an example, reviewing the World Wildlife Fund’s 2018 financial filings with the CRA one can see they generated annual revenue of $24.942,345.00 and looking at their expenses one notes they spent $3,640,876.00 on what are described as “Professional and Consulting Fees”.  Those expenditures represented 14.6% of gross revenues which seems very high if they are simply paying for standard accounting and legal services.  As it turns out WWF may be paying for consulting work above and beyond what would be considered standard.  As one example. just prior to the last Federal election, “WWF-Canada, in collaboration with 13 other leading environmental organizations,”* released “the responses to this Federal Party Survey on Environmental Platforms.” Here are the questions asked and the results of the survey:

It is interesting to note the small print disclosure at the bottom of the survey suggests it was “not intended to support or oppose” a platform! Under new regulations passed by the Justin Trudeau led Liberal Party in late 2018 “which would remove the existing quantitative limits on charities’ political activities” apparently is all that was needed to allow charities to develop surveys, etc. that obviously produce favourable results for the “eco-warrior”. Those charities subtly endorse the political party that align with their views, without actually naming them. 

The Conservative Party look pretty lonely with all those “No’s”!

As if the foregoing wasn’t enough it appears the Strathmere Group ventured hired a “marketing campaign” influencer: Peersway!  The Peersway website notes “The Strathmere group wanted influencers to share who we vote for matters, not just for our country but for our future and the health of our planet.”  Peersway indicate in the “case study” on their site: “The One Earth One Vote initiative was spearheaded by 12 Canadian environmental organizations but has since grown to include famous Canadians, scientists, and concerned people of all ages.  This non-partisan movement is encouraging Canadians to consider environmental issues when casting their votes in the 2019 federal election.  To date, the #OneEarthOneVote campaign has been viewed, talked and posted about more than 11 million times.”  According to the record, votes cast in the 2019 election were 17,880,600 meaning many of them were presumably reached via the Peersway “marketing campaign”!

Looking back, it appears the change in the manner “charities” are regulated by the CRA played a role in the Liberals being re-elected despite actually loosing the popular vote. No doubt the Strathmere Group members were pleased they helped the Liberals squeak out a victory.

At this time, in anticipation of the upcoming “Throne Speech”, the concern for those who are not fans of the Liberals and the Strathmere eco-warriors should be their demand for a Canadian version of the “Green New Deal”.  We should all worry what it will do to our already damaged economy. 

In the event the Throne Speech causes the minority Liberal Government to fall we will be heading for an election.  We should expect the Strathmere Group’s members will repeat their 2019 actions with that tax-free money they raise including some of it handed out by several Federal Ministries.

It’s time to remove the “charitable” status of the eco-warriors!

*Denotes Strathmere members—9 of the 12 members! “The survey represents the collective priorities of all of the following organizations: Canadian Environmental Law Association, CPAWS, David Suzuki Foundation, Ecology Action Centre, Ecojustice, Équiterre, Environmental Defence, Greenpeace, Nature Canada, Pembina Institute, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, West Coast Environmental Law Association, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, and WWF-Canada.”