“Outstanding CEO of the Year Award” Shows How Tone Deaf Corporate Canada is to Canadians’ Concerns About Corporations and the Environment

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Environmental group ForestEthics is panning this morning's announcement that Enbridge CEO, Patrick Daniel, has been selected as the 2011 "Outstanding CEO of the Year," saying the award shows how tone deaf corporate Canada is to Canadians' concerns about corporate greed and the environment, as represented by the growing "occupy" movement.  

The award is described by its creators as "the most prestigious Canadian business award," presented for "vision and leadership, corporate performance, global competitiveness, innovation and social responsibility." Recipients are selected by an Advisory Board that reads like a "who's who" list of former CEOs and corporate directors from the tar sands, logging, and financial industries, among others. The award is managed by Caldwell Partners and co-sponsored by The National Post and BNN.



"At a time when thousands of Canadians are taking to the streets to peacefully protest the damage wrought by corporate greed, corporate Canada has chosen to celebrate the leader of a company that has spilled millions of litres of oil into farms, rivers and wetlands, and that has consistently failed to respect First Nations rights and citizens' environmental concerns," said Pierre Iachetti, Conservation Director with ForestEthics. "This is like the foxes giving each other awards for raiding the chicken coop."

Between 1999 and 2008, Enbridge recorded 610 spills involving more than 22 million litres of oil. In July, 2010, the company spilled four million litres of toxic tar sands crude oil into the Kalamazoo river in Central Michigan, causing millions of dollars of damage and closing the river to swimming and fishing.  

The company is currently pushing the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline, a plan that would pipe oil across British Columbia for loading onto super tankers in Kitimat. 80% of British Columbians oppose the oil tanker traffic the project would create, and the pipeline itself faces widespread opposition among First Nations and non-aboriginal communities alike, along the proposed pipeline route. 


"The so-called 'vision' and 'social responsibility' of Enbridge, that this award celebrates, is inherently unsustainable and opposed by thousands of Canadians," said Iachetti. "Pat Daniel would be an 'outstanding' candidate for 'Irresponsible CEO of the Year.'"