are environmentalists working for the saudis?

Today I saw an informal talk by a prominent Canadian author/broadcaster/journalist who made several interesting claims.

The talk was held at a business school, an environment in which you might expect Republican-style "facts". One of these was that Canadian environmentalists are being funded, without their knowledge, by Saudi, Venezuelan, and Russian oil/intelligence agencies. The reason being that by fighting against the expansion of the US oil pipeline system in Canada, the US oil shipments from those other countries remain undiminished.

I suppose when you're chatting with an audience that you expect to be compliant (business-oriented ~20-year-olds) you feel encouraged to say what you want. I suppose the speaker probably doesn't put such statements in her published articles/books. I have to say that I can't be bothered to find out.