Greenpeace activists let it all hang out at Premier’s fundraising dinner

24 April 2008

A Greenpeace activist dangles from the catwalk during Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s fundraising speech tonight, April 24, 2008, at the annual Edmonton Premier’s Dinner at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Enlarge Image

More Photos

Edmonton, Canada — On April 24, 2008, Greenpeace activists delivered a clear message to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, dropping from the ceiling above the annual Edmonton Premier’s Dinner as he was delivering his fundraising speech, unveiling a banner as they descended that read: “$telmach: The Best Premier Oil Money Can Buy.”

Two climbers dangled from the catwalk, distracting the over 1000 supporters of the Alberta Conservative party, who each paid $450 to listen to Premier Stelmach speak at the dinner, held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. The Greenpeace protest disrupted the activity as the audience turned their attention to the activists and the hanging banner while Tory staff hurried to deal with the unexpected message.

“This government has approved every tar sands proposal that has come across its desk, last year the Premier appointed Suncor VP Heather Kennedy as deputy minister of tar sands development and his former Campaign manager Randy Dawson has been hired as a nuclear power lobbyist by Bruce Power. If this doesn’t speak to lapdog politics, I don’t know what does,” said Mike Hudema, tar sands campaigner with Greenpeace. “There hasn’t been a single tar sands project that has been rejected. It appears the Premier is either unwilling or unable to say no to big oil, despite the massive costs to Albertans.”