It’s been a rough start to 2016 for many companies hoping to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in Canada, with the price for the product continuing its freefall and many projects delayed due to onerous approval processes.

But LNG companies certainly aren’t letting the bad news dissuade them from pressuring government: since the Liberals were elected in mid-October, LNG companies have lobbied federal officials in 63 different meetings.

Pacific NorthWest LNG Meets with Officials 21 Times, Including 15 MPs

Pacific NorthWest LNG — the company majority owned by Petronas that’s pushing to build a massive $11.4-billion LNG export terminal near Prince Rupert, B.C. — has led the pack, lobbying the federal government 21 times.

The meetings, six of which occurred on February 2, included environment minister Catherine McKenna, transport minister Marc Garneau, the chiefs of staff for five departments and 15 Members of Parliament.

The proposed facility has been the subject of significant criticism ever since Petronas submitted its environmental assessment application in 2013 due to potential impacts on critical juvenile salmon in the Skeena watershed.

Earlier this month, over 130 scientists including renown limnologist David Schindler and 80 other PhD-holding experts signed an open letter to McKenna that petitioned her to reject the latest report by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) as it was a “flawed assessment” that serves as a “symbol of what is wrong with environmental decision-making in Canada.”

On March 21, the LNG company received a letter from the CEAA with a fresh set of questions to answer and an amended timeline. Once the federal government receives answers from the company, it will take up to a month-and-a-half to make a decision.

Chris Tollefson, director of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, has stated the project “could be the biggest single point source emitter of greenhouse gas in the country.”

Low Commodity Prices Force Companies to Reconsider Plans

But Pacific NorthWest is certainly not the only LNG company that’s been fighting for the government’s favour. LNG Canada Development — a joint venture between Shell, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas that’s pushing for permission to build an export facility near Kitimat, B.C. — lobbied the government 14 times between October 27, 2015, and February 25, 2016.

Three ministers — Hunter Tootoo (Fisheries and Oceans), Chrystia Freeland (International Trade) and John McCallum (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship) — were among those met with by the joint venture. LNG Canada Development has also been experiencing delays due to low prices. A final investment decision expected will be made later this year.

Woodfibre LNG Pushes Ahead Following Meetings with CEAA President

Some companies have been experiencing better luck. Woodfibre LNG, which plans to build a facility near Squamish, B.C., recently received nods from the federal government and Squamish First Nation to proceed with dozens of conditions.

Between November 3, 2015, and January 28, 2016, the company met with federal officials in eight different meetings, with the most high-profile of the lot being with CEAA president Ron Hallman and vice-president of operations Heath Smith on November 19, 2015. The company still has to attain approval from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada.

The three companies mentioned — Pacific NorthWest, LNG Canada Development and Woodfibre LNG — belong to the BC LNG Developers Alliance, a lobbying organization that also includes ExxonMobil, Kitimat LNG, Triton LNG and Prince Rupert LNG as members (the alliance’s president David Keane served as a vice-president at BG Canada, which is building the latter).

On February 2, the lobbying group met with a star-studded line-up of officials, including natural resources minister Jim Carr, employment minister MaryAnn Mihychuk, a deputy minister, two assistant deputy ministers and two chiefs of staff.

Lobbying U.S. Ambassador Pays off for Bear Head LNG

But all things considered, Bear Head LNG — which plans to start exporting its product by 2019 from Nova Scotia — may be the most successful of the bunch. In August 2015, the project received import and export licenses from the National Energy Board (NEB), while the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gave it a similar approval the month prior.

In recent months, the company met with Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer eight times and treasury board president Scott Brison twice. However, in what could be interpreted as not-so-great news, both the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the company “left to pursue outside opportunities” in early March.

There have been some minor victories for the industry, perhaps as a partial result of lobbying efforts. But the short-term future isn’t looking especially bright. A recent poll of 802 British Columbia residents suggested public support for LNG projects is slipping.

On March 22, Bloomberg reported a proposed $40-billion LNG project in Australia was cancelled due to low commodity prices.

It might be the sign of things to come.

But if the last six months have been any indication, we can be certain that federal officials are going to keep receiving plenty of visits from LNG companies.

You can click here to read more about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and climate change.

Image: Indigenous leaders gather at the proposed site of the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal. Photo: Skeena Watershed Coalition

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Only three-and-a-half months have passed since the federal election, but fossil fuel companies and lobby groups haven’t wasted any time in ramping up their lobbying efforts.   Suncor, the country’s largest energy company by revenue, has led the pack in meeting with high-ranking federal officials — logging at least 12 meetings in just over one month.   Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 19 the dominant oilsands player met four times with Louise Metivier, who was Canada’s chief negotiator at the UN climate summit held in Paris between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12.   Steve Williams, the company’s CEO and head lobbyist, also met three times with Environment Minister Catherine McKenna (on Nov. 18, Dec. 7 and Dec. 8) another three times with Environment Canada’s chief of staff Marlo Raynolds (on Nov. 5, Dec. 7 and Dec. 9) and twice more with Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s right-hand man and principal secretary ( Nov. 18 and Nov. 19).   “The meetings were preparatory meetings for Suncor’s participation at COP 21 in Paris,” explained Sneh Seetal, spokesperson at Suncor, via e-mail. “Our president and CEO, Steve Williams, attended as a member of the Canadian delegation at the invitation of the federal government. We discussed Suncor’s perspectives on climate change and how industry can help be a part of the solution.”

Lobbyists Include LNG Canada and TransCanada

Other oil and gas interests have displayed similar determination since the Liberals formed government.   Take LNG Canada Development (a Kitimat-based joint venture composed of Shell, PetroChina, Korea Gas and Mitsubishi), which met with Erin O’Gorman, assistant deputy minister of Natural Resources Canada, on Oct. 27, Nov. 5 and Jan. 8.   TransCanada, the proponent of both the Energy East and Keystone XL pipelines, lobbied Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Gary Doer, three times on Oct. 30.

The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association met with NEB chairperson Peter Watson on Nov. 2 and Dec. 17. And the Petroleum Services Association of Canada lobbied McKenna, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk in separate meetings on Dec. 22.

It’s important to keep in mind that the lobby registrations are likely just scraping the surface of the actual lobbying happening in Ottawa.   Richard Girard, executive director of research centre Polaris Institute, notes that only employees who spend more than 20 per cent of their month’s work on lobbying efforts are required to register as a lobbyist. As a result, Girard suggests there are “lots of meetings that are more likely taking place that we don’t know about.”   Even the meetings that are registered lack specifics, only hinting at general subjects such as “environment” or “energy.”   “It certainly provides you with a list of who’s seeing who, which is helpful,” says Gillian Steward, author of the Toronto Star’s 2015 Atkinson Series on public policy on the oilsands. “They do have to at least put down the topic of what they’re talking about. On the other hand, it can be very difficult to get — say, from CAPP — exactly what they’re presenting.”

Bear Head LNG Lobbies Federal Government 15 Times in 10 Weeks

Some companies have clearly been making plenty of moves, with Bear Head LNG — the company proposing to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Nova Scotia — meeting with Doer on Oct. 21, Oct. 26, Oct. 30, Nov. 10, Nov. 11, Dec. 10 and Dec. 18.   Represented by former U.S. ambassador Derek Burney, the company also lobbied the duo of Jay Khosla (assistant deputy minister of Natural Resource Canada’s energy sector) and Terence Hubbard (director general of Natural Resource Canada) four times between Nov. 12 and Dec. 29, with Khosla chatting individually with the company an additional four times in the window.

‘It’s a Question of Balance’

Girard notes that while the Canadian lobbying registry has improved over the years, it’s still flawed because it doesn’t show how much companies are spending on lobbyists, unlike the U.S. But reasonable conclusions can still be made.   “The number of times people register communications increases around certain important pieces of legislation,” says Girard, who served as co-author for the Polaris’ report Big Oil’s Oily Grasp. “Many of those pieces of legislation were very positive for the industry. We can’t draw the line, but yes we can see there’s a correlation between the level of lobbying — who’s lobbying and for what — and the outcome of the legislation.”   The Polaris Institute’s 2012 report found that that 2,733 lobbying communications were made by oil and gas companies between July 2008 and November 2012, far outweighing similar efforts by mining and forestry interests. Prominent lobbying organizations such as the Canadian Association for Petroleum Producers (CAPP), TransCanada, the Canadian Gas Association, Imperial Oil and Suncor led the way. Meanwhile, only 11 environmental non-governmental organizations were registered as lobbyists in that window.   “It’s a question of balance,” Steward says. “[Oil and gas companies] have a right to go and do that. It’s just that they have more resources and more power to actually have those meetings, where environmental and First Nations groups and other kinds of NGOs don’t have the funds or staff, and aren’t represented as well. It’s much harder for them to actually get their message across to the people who influence those decisions.”

Image: Steve Williams takes the helm as Suncor CEO in 2011.  

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