Canadian oil and gas companies want to dismantle environmental rules, and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says he is committed to meeting all their recommendations.
Canada’s largest oil and gas corporations want the country’s next leader to dismantle environmental rules and speed up fossil fuel projects — and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to make it all happen.
“Canada’s energy sector, the experts on energy growth, have told us what we need to do,” Poilievre said in a statement on April 1. “Today I am committing to meeting all of their urgent recommendations.”
Poilievre even went a step further than the industry’s sweeping list of proposals, contained in a March 18 open letter signed by the CEOs or executive chairs of 14 companies.
The executives, representing oilsands majors like Suncor, Cenovus and Imperial Oil, and pipeline giants Enbridge and TC Energy, want to see two key federal environmental laws “overhauled and simplified.” Poilievre said he would scrap them entirely.
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Addressed to Canada’s political leaders, the open letter called on the federal government to “build Canada now” by overhauling environmental legislation, implementing a new six-month deadline for project approvals, removing the industrial price on pollution, nixing the proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and incentivising First Nations investments through loan guarantees.
“By declaring a Canadian energy crisis and key projects in the ‘national interest,’ the federal government will be able to use all its available emergency powers to ensure that the dramatic regulatory restructuring required to expand the oil and natural gas sector is rapidly achieved,” reads the letter.
Poilievre’s statement does not mention using emergency powers and he did not say whether his government would do so during an appearance Tuesday in St. John’s, N.L.
The executives wrote their recommendations would help “fortify Canadian independence” and diversify export markets, taking advantage of a “turning point” in Canada’s history where public support is rising for fossil fuel expansion amid an escalating trade war and following annexation threats from the United States.
Canada’s oil and gas industry is already hitting record highs of crude oil production, as well as record highs of natural gas production, according to Statistics Canada. The combined profits of four of the letter’s signatories — Suncor, Cenovus, Imperial Oil and Canadian Natural Resources — was over $16 billion in 2024, according to Environmental Defence Canada.
And while the letter does acknowledge the “global challenge” of carbon pollution, and emerging technologies that have “potential” to lower emissions intensity, it makes no mention of the deadly and destructive effects of climate-driven extreme weather on Canadian communities. It repeats a disputed industry talking point that expanding the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry can help reduce global emissions.
In a statement, Climate Action Network Canada said it was “alarmed” at the Conservative Party of Canada’s “wholesale acceptance of the demands of oil and gas executives to scrap crucial regulations that protect the environment and communities.”
Here’s a look at some of the industry’s recommendations, and how Poilievre says he would respond.
Oil and gas CEOs want to see the Impact Assessment Act and the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act “overhauled and simplified.” Poilievre says he’ll get rid of both laws. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
1. Simplify environmental oversight of fossil fuel projects
The oil and gas CEOs said two federal laws enacted in 2019, the Impact Assessment Act and the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, “are impeding development and need to be overhauled and simplified.”
The Impact Assessment Act requires that certain projects be examined for their potential negative impact on things like the environment, people’s health and Indigenous Rights.
The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act prevents vessels carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes of oil products from using ports on British Columbia’s north coast, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.
The law is part of a national coastal protection plan, and meant to prevent an ecological disaster in the Great Bear Sea, home to diverse wildlife including orcas, humpback whales, pacific salmon and sea otters.
Poilievre said a Conservative government would repeal both of those laws, in order to “build new pipelines and LNG terminals” and export more fossil fuels.
Removing the federal environmental assessment regime would directly impact the businesses of at least five of the companies that signed the letter: Imperial Oil, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor, Cenovus, and MEG Energy.
Those companies are part of the Pathways Alliance, which has proposed building a large carbon capture and storage network in Alberta, that it has claimed would be able to slash 22 million tonnes of emissions per year by 2030.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he would not repeal the Impact Assessment Act, but has proposed changes he argued would help shorten environmental assessments.
2. Set a 6-month deadline for project approvals
The CEOs also asked for assessment timelines to be reduced “so that major projects are approved within six months of application.”
The current Impact Assessment Act allows for timelines that can take years. They are extensive to allow for information gathering, public participation, Indigenous engagement and a study of the project’s impacts.
The oil and gas CEOs called for “firm deadlines” for approvals. Poilievre said he would “set a target for decisions on applications in six months.”
The Conservative leader has not detailed exactly how he would assess whether oil and gas projects would harm people or the environment before allowing them to proceed.
Oil and gas CEOs want to see the proposed emissions cap eliminated “to allow the sector to reach its full potential.” Poilievre committed to ditching it. Photo: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal
3. Eliminate the proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector
Late last year the federal government unveiled details of a plan to slow the rising carbon emissions from the oil and gas sector in order to meet climate targets.
The oil and gas sector is Canada’s biggest polluter, and annual oilsands emissions have grown by more than 50 million tonnes since 2005. The federal government has been counting on an emissions cap “to ensure that the sector contributes its fair share” to tackling climate change.
A report from the Canadian Climate Institute showed the emissions cap would be one of the largest contributors to Canada’s emissions reductions over the next five years.
Oil and gas CEOs said in the open letter that the emissions cap “must be eliminated to allow the sector to reach its full potential.”
Poilievre has already been against the emissions cap, and in his statement he committed to ditching the proposal.
The Pathways Alliance has lobbied the federal government to weaken and delay its emissions cap plans. The companies asked for “flexible and cost-effective” rules and a “long lead time” to prepare, and asked for a “non-regulatory approach” on cutting carbon pollution.
When the proposal was introduced, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the design of the cap was largely based on the alliance’s own carbon capture plans.
In other words, the government wasn’t telling oilsands CEOs what to do, just ensuring that they did it.
Carney has said he would move forward with the emissions cap proposal, and also speed up government investments in carbon capture and methane reduction technology.
4. Eliminate the industrial price on pollution
Canada’s carbon pricing regime is roughly divided into two parts: the now-scrapped consumer carbon price, a fee on fossil fuels that was largely refunded to Canadians through rebates, and an industrial price for large emitters that acts like a carbon credit trading system, the proceeds of which are returned to the provinces and territories.
The law requires the provinces and territories to implement their own regimes — and imposes a federal system on those that don’t meet minimum standards. A constitutional challenge of the law by multiple provinces failed in the Supreme Court in 2021.
Carney moved during his first day in office as prime minister to eliminate the consumer carbon price.
The oil and gas CEOs want to go further. They said the industrial carbon price “is not globally cost competitive and should be repealed to allow provincial governments to set more suitable carbon regulations.”
Carney has said he would keep the industrial carbon price, although he has proposed to “improve and tighten” it.
Polievere, however, said he would “axe the entire Liberal carbon tax law, including the federal law that requires the provinces to impose an industrial carbon tax.”
Instead, he said he would let provinces “continue to have the freedom to address this issue how they like,” without any federal obligations.
The Canadian Climate Institute report said the industrial carbon price would be the “single biggest driver of emissions reductions in 2030.”
In its decision, the Supreme Court found that it was necessary for Parliament to address carbon pricing at a national level, or else there would be “irreversible consequences for the environment, for human health and safety and for the economy.”
“This irreversible harm would be felt across the country and would be borne disproportionately by vulnerable communities and regions in Canada,” according to the decision.
5. Incentivise Indigenous investment through government-backed loans
The oil and gas CEOs called on the federal government to guarantee loans “at scale” for Indigenous groups to invest in or own energy projects. They said this would help “increase prosperity for communities” and ensure Indigenous communities “benefit from development.”
The current Liberal government has already acted to fulfil this, citing calls from Indigenous groups to remove systemic barriers to accessing capital and promising up to $5 billion in loan guarantees backing investments in major development projects.
They proposed establishing a new “Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation” that would be a subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corporation, the same Crown corporation that is responsible for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline.
Poilievre said a Conservative government would also guarantee Indigenous loans, and would establish an Indigenous-led Canadian Indigenous Opportunities Corporation for this purpose that would operate under the First Nations Financial Management Act.
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
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With headlines blaring about tariffs, a trade war and a 51st state, it can be easy to feel helpless. Here’s where I see hope: The Narwhal is reporting doggedly on issues surrounding the natural world in Canada that feel so under threat today — including the autonomy and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. It’s why I’m a member — and why I hope you’ll be one of 400 readers who joins me this April. Sign up now and receive a Narwhal tote bag as a gift of thanks! — Tanya Talaga, journalist, author and recent Narwhal board chair
With headlines blaring about tariffs, a trade war and a 51st state, it can be easy to feel helpless. Here’s where I see hope: The Narwhal is reporting doggedly on issues surrounding the natural world in Canada that feel so under threat today — including the autonomy and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. It’s why I’m a member — and why I hope you’ll be one of 400 readers who joins me this April. — Tanya Talaga, journalist, author and recent Narwhal board chair
