 Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario. (Shutterstock)
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OTTAWA -- The federal government doesn't want to detail the steps it has taken to protect against environmental terrorists but says it is well-aware of their increasingly aggressive opposition to Canada's energy sector.
Responding to a recently declassified RCMP report that says environmental groups in Canada are becoming more radicalized, the feds say the "government has taken strong action to keep Canadians safe from those who wish to harm us."
"We have seen individuals or groups of differing ideologies both internationally and domestically who have planned and carried out violent attacks to bring attention to their causes," a spokesman for Public Safety minister Vic Toews told QMI Agency.
The RCMP report says there is a "growing radicalized environmentalist faction" in Canada and acknowledged potential threats to offshore oil platforms and hazardous marine shipments.
One expert who has worked in pipeline security internationally since 1995 has observed sabotage from environmental extremists become a higher priority for oil companies abroad, but not in Canada.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the expert said it is "extremely difficult but not impossible" to protect a pipeline from anti-oil activists.
"This should be a concern here," the expert said. "Environmental extremists aren't the primary adversary but they're one of many."
Bruce Cox, executive director of Greenpeace Canada, is aware that intelligence reports can sometimes be used by the government to justify surveillance campaigns.
"It shows a real misunderstanding of what we do," he said.
Every oil company contacted declined to comment.
