Managing Dissent: Energy Pipelines and “New Right” Politics in Canada

RÉsUMÉ Cet article explore la controverse politique entourant l'oléoduc de bitume proposé par Northern Gateway en analysant les modalités selon lesquelles les rationalités d'élites structurent le discours tenu dans les médias d'information. D'abord, au moyen de l'analyse de nouvelles, les auteurs identifient les acteurs appuyant l'oléoduc que les médias citent le plus souvent. Ensuite, ils identifient les sources de la société civile les plus en vue et évaluent leur degré d'appartenance à des coalitions conservatrices. Enfin, les auteurs identifient certaines techniques de cadrage qui jouent un rôle disproportionné dans la structuration du discours public à l'égard du projet Gateway. Cet article se conclut en soutenant qu'une dépendance excessive envers des « sources officielles », la centralité d'organismes de la société civile appuyés par l'industrie, et l'influence de discours hégémoniques sur la pratique journalistique coïncident pour structurer le discours public sur Northern Gateway en faveur de préférences et de rationalités d'élites. The vulnerability of the hearing process and the responsibility of the federal government to protect it against the efforts of protesters was the subject of two more highly duplicated articles (o'[Neil, Peter], 2012a, 2012b). these articles explored the possibility of protesters upending the JRP and causing an irreversible ruling against the pipeline. o'Neil (2012b) reported that the JRP was "the final decision maker" (para. 8) for the pipeline and that a negative ruling from the panel would be "the end of the line for the project" (para. 10). once the JRP hearings were thoroughly problematized as vulnerable to co-optation by foreign-funded radicals who could stall energy projects critical to canada's economic prosperity, the [Harper] government announced its solution (Penty, 2012). on January 26, a Calgary Heraldarticle announced the conservative gov- ernment's plan to remove the Neb's power to approve and deny energy projects (Penty, 2012). the newly restrained Neb would no longer have final say on energy projects, with final approval for proposals deemed to be in the national interest becoming the responsibility of the federal government (Penty, 2012). Additionally, JRP hearings in the future would have strict time limits to prevent presentations from being used by protesters as a means of stalling project approval (Penty, 2012). "talk of conspiracies and money-laundering helps Harper level the playing field with hi