Talk:Tom Harris (Canadian engineer/PR specialist)

Cache copy of High Park Group bio
"Tom specializes in strategic communication and media relations and has 28 years experience in science and technology in the energy and environment, aerospace and high-tech sectors. He has worked with private companies and trade associations to successfully position these entities and their interests with media and before government committees and regulatory bodies.  Tom holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from Carleton University and a Master of Engineering (Mechanical - thermo-fluids) from McMaster University." 

Translation
"Tom Harris, who was parliamentary assistant of the former preserving spokesman as regards environment, Bob Mills, is the prolific author of anti-Kyoto open letters, usually quoting researchers associated with Amis with science. He is a lobbyist within High Park Group, a firm cash of many customers resulting from the industry of energy. Mr. Harris was associated before in the firm of public relations APCO Worldwide (Canada). For this reason, it organized, in 2002, a press conference during which the speakers, resulting for the majority from the Friends of science and oil industry, exposed their skepticism in connection with the climatic changes."&mdash;"The money of oil justifies preserving skepticism in connection with the climatic changes," Liberal.ca, August 15, 2006. (translated by Google from French).

Comments
It wasn't immediately apparent what the evidence was to support this. Did I miss something? --Bob Burton 04:11, 25 Jun 2006 (EDT)

Harris has been aggressive in using the echo chamber to circulate articles and news items using the same smorgesbord of names attached. He appears to have a ready outlet with the Canada Free Press website as launchpad for activists to pick up and redistribute his postings. New copies of his publications appear from between hours to days on several hundred websites serving the aggressive rightwing activist crowd, and then deluge usenet groups and discussion forums. Harris has ready access to Canada mainstream conservative newspapers as well. Few known industry lobbiests can get so much press. - I couldn't see that that this point is supported by this link. --Bob Burton 04:07, 26 October 2006 (EDT)

HPG clients include many corporations in the energy industry. 

Re: Editing Your Own Page
Tom, Can I draw your attention to our policy. --Bob Burton 06:27, 26 October 2006 (EDT)

Section 1.6: Groups/individuals posting articles on themselves http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Policy

We don't encourage individuals and groups to create SW articles about themselves or people or organizations with which they are affiliated, and we encourage people to register under their own names when editing articles already on SW about themselves or their groups. We also encourage people who edit articles about themselves or people or organizations with which they are affiliated to exercise restraint and to defer to other contributors with regard to editing choices that are matters of interpretation rather than fact. When disputes arise over interpretation, such individuals should try to address them with comments on the talk page rather than the article space itself. Users who are overly aggressive in deleting relevant facts from articles about themselves or others may be blocked from contributing to or editing the site.

I am no longer "Director of Operations of the Ottowa office of the High Park Group (HPG), a Canadian PR and lobbying company"
... so removed this phrase.

A note about his middle initial
A note to contributors: Harris's profile at Zoominfo.com identifies his middle initial as J. However this depends on him being the Thomas J. Harris who is listed on this page as being on the board of directors of Hillwood Development Company. And I'm not sure whether he is. Zoominfo uses an automated process to gather links about people, so I think it's possible for it to make mistakes. Hence for the time being, I'm not moving the Tom Harris article to Tom J. Harris, nor referring to the Hillwood role. --Neoconned 10:02, 21 November 2006 (EST)

THIS IS SUCH A MESS, CLEARLY FALSE INFORMATION AND EVEN CONTRADICTING WITH OTHER SOURCEWATCH ENTRIES (AND EVEN WITHIN THIS ENTRY), THAT IT IS NOT EVEN WORTH CORRECTING
SOUREWATCH APPEARS TO BE HIGHLY BIASED IN FAVOUR OF CLIMATE CHANGE ALARMISM (AND ALLOW COMPLETELY MIXED-UP ENTRIES TO STAND ON THIS AND OTHER PAGES DESCRIBING THEIR PHILOSOPHICAL OPPONENTS) AND SO IT IS SIMPLY NOT WORTH THE TIME TO COMMENT ON FURTHER.

Tom Harris www.nrsp.com


 * No need to shout, Tom. Pity you couldn't chat more this morning when I called. --Bob Burton 06:30, 22 November 2006 (EST)

SW: Made some corrections to demonstrate Sourcewatch's bias
After refusing to speak with Mr. Burton when he telephoned me until he had "corrected made the many simple, obvious and easily proven mistakes on SourceWatch" (to quote my last telecom comment to him) that I have repeatedly made him aware of, Mr. Burton responded, not by correcting the obvious mistakes, but by injecting as much anti-Tim Harris material as he could possibly find or make up into my Web page listing - see http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_Harris&action=history.

I won't bother even reading all the stuff Mr. Burton added in his obvious pique at being rejected in our brief telecom but I did make a few corrections to demonstrate to readers what is going on here - for example:

Mr. Burton misquoted Montgomery who wrote the smear piece in the Globe and Mail. Montgomery never said I was a lobbyist for the the CEA and the CGA, as Burton wrote - he said High Park Group was - I made this correction in SourceWatch by simply looking up Montgomery's piece and uploadig his quote in verbattim in place of the made up comment previous on SourceWatch.

I also took out the leading statement about me no longer being listed as a lobbyist since I have never been a lobbyist, listed or otherwise. I don't even know how to get listed if I wanted to. Burton could have also added that I am no longer listed as a KKK member, member of the CIA or Bush cabinet but then that would reveal Mr. Burton's bias since it is obvious I have never been involved in such things. That I am no longer listed as a lobbyist leads the reader to assume I used to be, which was obviously Mr. Burton's intent.

I haven't bothered to make the many other corrections to the listing that would be required to give it any credibility but did make a couple more to the statements that imply I am no longer writing and speaking about my first love, space exploration.

I leave the rest of this rather humorous entry on me for others to see if they can spot the mistakes - bonus prize if you can find more than five!

Tom Harris tom.harris@nrsp.com

had to add this - more humour
Bob Burton included a link to the hillarious "Rebuttal to WxDan from Jeff Masters Blog on 'Science Consensus Study'," Wunder Blog, June 22, 2006. Includes numerous links to Tom Harris bios.". Naturally Mr. Burton didn't bother to read (or chose to ignore) the corrections to the points on that site that I added at the time which were posted in the comments section as follows:

Some corrections to the above:

1 - You say, "TOM HARRIS and his front website canadafreepress.conmen is a LOBBYIST and PR Guy for many oily corporations."

Correction: I wish I owned or directed Canada Free Press - in reality I was just lucky enough that they picked up my piece and published it. My climate change writing is currently funded entirely by an elderly Toronto-based private philanthropist who also funds scientific research and so wants to see the results of this research publicized.

2 - Not sure what you mean by "PR Stooge" - I was writing the same material long before I was paid anything to do it - do a Google search on "Tom Harris" and "space exploration" (which is my primary topic of writing and speaking, from a left wing perspective, you'll be glad to hear)

3 - my "28 years experience" is divided up thusly - 24 years as an engineer in the aerospace and high tech sectors. Only the past 4 in communications/

4 - You imply I had something to do with some sort of pro-tabacco lobby.

Correction: I have had nothing to do with any pro-tobacco activities. In fact, just the opposite - when I worked in airworthiness with Transport Canada, my submissions to the Minister contributed to the ban on smoking on flights longer than 5 hours (as it led to a measurable reduction in the visual acuity of pilots for night time landing, the pilots sharing the same air as the passengers). Another attack on me gave more details about TASSC which, although I have no idea whether it was correct or not, listed that work as occuring well before I was even in the PR field. Note the following "Apology to Tom Harris" which deSmogblog.com posted after investigating further: http://desmogblog.com/news-alert-apology-to-tom-harris

5 - You imply I had something to do with organizing "the fraud operation known as "Friends of Science".

Correction: No, FOS started up on their own. Ask them if you like - Google "Friends of Science". They are anything but fraud, doing it all as volunteers on a shoe string budget, most of them having retired from business life long ago.

... It is too tiresome to make any more corrections but it would be nice if you would at least correct the above, please.

Thanks,

Tom

Explanation on Revert
Talisman Energy Inc. citation in SW links readded as it includes the full name of company referenced in narative as only "Talisman".

FYI Artificial Intelligence 13:38, 28 November 2006 (EST)