Dr. Ian Urquhart points "noses" at Ministers

And rightly so!

Dr. Ian Urquhart has not missed a beat in providing us with his take on the pre-Christmas press conference with Ministers Brian Jean and Rebecca Schulz. Here is the Introduction to draw you into this article.

“Disingenuous. That’s how The Globe and Mail’s Emma Graney characterized Energy Minister Brian Jean at the news conference announcing the government’s vague Coal Industry Modernization Initiative. Deceptive and brazen also would be fitting adjectives. In their 30-minute news conference Mr. Jean and Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz failed miserably to communicate accurate information to the public about many vital aspects of exploiting coal in Alberta. One of the few unequivocal truths they offered was their hope that Alberta’s mountain coal resources will be mined.”

“The essential deceptiveness of the Coal Modernization Initiative (CIMI) may be shown by using the template found in The Washington Post’s fact checker. The Post invites the public to hold politicians accountable by awarding Pinocchios to politicians for what they say. The more Pinocchios, the more untruthful a politician’s claims. Mostly true statements get one Pinocchio, half-truths receive two Pinocchios, mostly false claims (characterized by factual errors and contradictions) are awarded three Pinocchios, and flat-out untrue claims or “whoppers” garner four Pinocchios.”

Read the meaty stuff here.