Why did the city of Calgary give $340,000 to an anti-oilsands lobby group called the Pembina Institute?

Pembina’s mission is shutting down fossil fuel industries. Not in OPEC countries, of course. Just Canadian oil, and the jobs that go with it. Many of which are in Calgary.

Would the city of Windsor, Ont., home of Canada’s auto industry, give a third of a million dollars to anti-car lobbyist? Would Hamilton hire an anti-steel lobby?

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed this shocking payment. But instead of expressing embarrassment, Mayor Naheed Nenshi admitted he knew all about it, and supported it.

Nenshi didn’t dispute that Pembina has nine lobbyists registered in Ottawa to attack the oil patch. But he claimed Pembina was also a “scientific think-tank” and it was for this expertise that the city paid them so richly. When asked by Sun Media if the city would ever pay the pro-free market Fraser Institute for advice, Nenshi was dismissive. “As soon as they hire scientists who actually know something,” he sniffed.

The Fraser Institute doesn’t accept government money. But they do seem to know a few things — their list of staff includes at least 38 PhDs. They just don’t share Nenshi’s big government, high-tax vision.

But what about Pembina? Are they, as Nenshi claims, scientific experts?

A review of the invoices shows 22 different Pembina staff billed the city of Calgary.

One was Roberta Franchuk. Her official Pembina biography says her specialty is “communications,” including “editing, layout and production.” She’s not a PhD expert. She has an undergrad degree in science.

P.J. Partington’s official biography says he’s Pembina’s “spokesperson on climate issues.” Also, with just an undergrad degree. His real talent is politics. He co-founded the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. That’s the organization Brigitte DePape, the Senate page who stood up with the Stop Harper sign, joined after her protest.

Julia Kilpatrick has a master’s degree — in journalism. So does Clare Demerse. They were also among the 22 Pembina “experts.” So is David Dodge, who Pembina describes as “an environmental journalist and a photojournalist.” He makes online videos.

Pembina billed for Emma Gilchrist’s time, too. She was Pembina’s “social media manager.” A scientist? She didn’t even go to university — she has a journalism degree from a college, plus an “e-marketing certificate.” Maybe one day the PhDs at the Fraser Institute will get that.

Not scientists.

These aren’t scientists. They’re activists. Pembina’s biggest biller, Jesse Row, isn’t an environmental scholar at all — he’s a mechanical engineer, whose official biography talks about his advocacy skills.

Two of the 22 did have PhDs, in fields unrelated to the contract, and they only worked very briefly. Matthew Bramley’s publications includes an article in a Spanish newspaper, comparing Canada to Saudi Arabia.

Mary Griffiths’ publications include a fantasy essay about Alberta if oil and gas development is allowed to continue.

“The Athabasca River is devoid of fish, and the surrounding boreal landscape is a patchwork of linear scars, and moonscapes of sand and grass that are undergoing reclamation, which has thus far proved largely unsuccessful … Fort McMurray is largely a ghost town, with empty commercial space, homes for sale, and strangely quiet six-lane highways. This scene is replicated in both Edmonton and Calgary, where the once prosperous economies have stagnated.”

Those are Nenshi’s scientists. He liked one of them, Claire Beckstead, so much he hired her as Calgary’s “community environmental specialist.” So now Pembina has an activist embedded in the city government.

Nenshi isn’t the only one funding Pembina. So is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, out of New York. They launched a “Tar Sands” campaign — a $7-million-a-year anti-oilsands propaganda war. Pembina helped write the plan and acts as a Canadian front group, taking American money to fight against Canadian industry.

Nenshi defends this contract. The Rockefellers are thrilled. Pembina rakes it in. The only folks left out are Calgary’s taxpayers. But they’ve grown rather used to their celebrity mayor abusing them.