Twenty years ago during winter break from college in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, 19-year-old Deena Del Giusto decided to take a road trip north to Fort St. John, where one of her friends had just opened a beauty salon. 

“I loved what I saw so much, I never came back,” says Del Giusto, who grew up in Abbotsford in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland near the American border, more than 1,200 kilometres away from the small city in northeast B.C.

Three children and two careers later, Del Giusto considers Fort St. John home.

When she saw a photo circulating online by the David Suzuki Foundation purporting to show the large scale of development in the region’s Montney natural gas play, she had a “wait, what?!” moment. 

“As soon as I saw that photo, I knew something didn’t look right because it looked nothing like anything I’d seen anywhere around here,” she said. 

“I’ve lived here for a long time and personally visited the drilling rigs and fracking sites in this area, first as a medic and then as a safety hand.” 

Del Giusto’s instincts led her to do some online research, which revealed the photo was actually taken in Wyoming more than 20 years ago.  

It had been repurposed by the David Suzuki Foundation on its website, social media channels and donation appeals to portray natural gas development in the Montney play. 

Del Giusto and seven other northeast B.C. residents have filed a formal application with the federal government’s Competition Bureau to investigate the foundation for using “false and misleading imagery.”  

Photos from Competition Bureau filing

The eight residents, who own small businesses in the region, claim this materially misleads donors and the public, which violates the Competition Act. 

It is filed under the Act’s established provisions and is not related to recent changes regarding “greenwashing” under Bill C-59.   

The residents’ complaint asks the bureau to investigate and potentially impose remedies, including stopping all uses of the image, publishing corrective notices and returning proceeds. 

“People who live in northeast B.C. are proud of what they do to produce the energy that Canada and the world needs in the right way because our families live here,” said Del Giusto, who now works as a real estate agent in the city of 25,000. 

“If you drive 10 minutes outside the city, you are in wilderness and it is beautiful. It’s important because developing the Montney supports thousands of jobs and fuels economic activity across the country.” 

Del Giusto said she understands that many people in Canada aren’t exposed to the oil and gas sector, which helped spur her decision to file the complaint.  

“It’s important we don’t have misrepresentations about what’s taking place,” she said.  

“Accurate public information is vital to informed debate, especially as many Canadians live far from production sites.” 

Del Giusto wants environmental organizations that campaign against development held to the same standard as energy companies. 

“This complaint is about truth and fairness. These issues deserve more than scare tactics and misleading imagery,” she said. 

“If we had a more open and honest conversation, we could be talking about what we could do to improve rather than debating things that aren’t true.” 

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A widely-circulated article this week by the Associated Press misrepresents Canada’s oil sands industry by ignoring its progress improving environmental performance and its commitment to achieving climate targets.  

Here are the facts.  

Fact: Canadian oil is not “the world’s dirtiest”  

The article repeats the false narrative that oil from the oil sands is far “dirtier” than other crudes produced around the world. This is not the case.  

Analysis by S&P Global found that average oil sands emissions per barrel are in the range of other crude oils consumed in the United States, the industry’s main customer.

Average oil sands emissions per barrel range from 1.6 per cent below to 8.6 per cent above, depending on production process, S&P Global predecessor IHS Markit reported in 2018. 

Canada’s oil sands producers are doing more to reduce emissions than operators in other countries, according to BMO Capital Markets.

Between 2013 and 2021, BMO estimates the average oil sands barrel shaved off more than 22 kilograms of emissions, compared to a reduction of just five kilograms per barrel for other major global oil producers.  

Fact: Oil sands producers reducing emissions per barrel, on track for absolute emissions reductions  

The AP article makes no mention of the success oil sands producers have achieved reducing emissions per barrel. That so-called emissions intensity is now estimated to be 23 per cent lower than it was in 2009, according to S&P Global.   

Further, there is no mention that the success reducing emissions per barrel is catching up to production growth, and total oil sands emissions may be close to their peak.  

Last year, for the first time since S&P Global started estimating the data, oil sands production went up, but emissions did not.

Total oil sands emissions were 81 megatonnes in 2022, nearly flat with 2021 despite a production increase of about 50,000 barrels per day. 

Last year analysts predicted that absolute oil sands emissions would start going down by 2025. The new findings indicate that could happen sooner. And that’s before shovels hit the ground for the Pathways Alliance’s foundational carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.   

Fact: Pathways Alliance collaboration is critical to emissions reduction 

The AP article leaves out any mention of the Pathways Alliance, one of the most significant environmental initiatives ever undertaken in Canada.  

Six companies representing 95 per cent of Canada’s oil sands production are working together with the goal of net zero emissions in their operations by 2050.    

With anticipated co-funding support from Canadian governments, the Alliance has announced plans to invest about $24 billion before 2030 in the first phase of its plan.

This includes $16.5 billion on the foundational CCS project and $7.6 billion on other technologies like switching to clean hydrogen and electricity to power oil sands operations. 

About half of the targeted 22 million tonne per year emissions reduction by 2030 will come from CCS, with a network connecting CO2 capture at an initial 14 oil sands facilities to a storage hub in northern Alberta. 

Fact: CCS projects in Canada are working 

The AP article perpetuates the inaccurate position that CCS is not a proven technology. But CCS in Canada has successfully operated for more than two decades.   

Canada has six of the world’s 39 commercial CCS operations, accounting for about 15 per cent of global CCS capacity even though Canada generates less than two per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to the International CCS Knowledge Centre. 

In Alberta, since 2015 two CCS projects – both tied to oil sands production – have safely stored more than 12 million tonnes of CO2, or the equivalent of taking more than 2.6 million internal combustion engine vehicles off the road.  

Fact: The world needs oil now and long into the future 

While activists trumpet the narrative that the world is rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels, the reality is oil and gas will be around for a long, long time.    

Even as more renewable and alternative energy sources become technically and economically feasible at a large scale, on the current trajectory the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that oil alone will still supply 26 per cent of world energy needs in 2050. That’s down only modestly from 30 per cent in 2022.    

Even in the IEA’s unlikely net zero scenario – which would require unprecedented global cooperation and includes more than a third of emissions reductions coming from technologies that do not yet exist – oil still accounts for 8 per cent of world energy supply in 2050.   

Oil demand for non-energy use (like pavement, which improves in quality when using oil from Canada’s oil sands) even continues to increase in the IEA’s net zero scenario, rising to 6 per cent of world energy use in 2050, from five per cent in 2022.   

Canada’s oil sands industry leads the world in its commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance and emissions reduction, and this should be recognized by media outlets including the Associated Press.  

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Anti-oil and gas activists are demanding Canadian institutions and investors stop all funding support for Canadian oil and gas.  

They say oil and gas are not needed in the future if there is a “renewable energy revolution.” But they are wrong. Even in the most aggressive decarbonization scenarios – trajectories the world is not on – significant amounts of oil and gas will continue to be required through 2050.  

“The energy future must be secure and affordable, as well as sustainable,” Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winning author and vice-chairman of S&P Global, said earlier this year. 

Canadian energy is all three of those things and should not be cut off from the world.  

Here are the facts.   

Aerial view of Mumbai, India. According to the UN, India is now the world’s most populous country and along with China will drive the world’s population to increase by two billion people over the next three decades. Getty Images photo

Fact: The world needs responsibly produced oil and gas  

While activists like to trumpet the narrative that the world is rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels, the reality is that oil and gas will be around for a long, long time.   

As more renewable and alternative energy sources become technically and economically feasible at a large scale, on the current trajectory the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that oil and gas will still supply 46 per cent of world energy needs in 2050. That’s down only modestly from 53 per cent in 2022.  

Even in the IEA’s unlikely net zero scenario – which would require unprecedented global cooperation and includes more than a third of emissions reductions coming from technologies that do not yet exist – oil and gas still account for 14 per cent of world energy supply in 2050.  

Oil demand for non-energy use (like pavement, which improves in quality when using oil from Canada) even continues to increase in the IEA’s net zero scenario, rising to 6 per cent of world energy use in 2050, from five per cent in 2022.  

Shutting off Canada’s ability to supply oil and gas would have no impact on how much is used around the world – or how much emissions that use generates.   

It would only shift supply to our biggest competitor – the United States – or regions that are less responsible actors in areas like social progress, environmental protection and worker safety.     

Fact: Canadian natural gas can reduce global emissions  

LNG Canada CEO Jason Klein stands atop a receiving platform overlooking LNG processing units called trains that are used to convert natural gas into liquefied natural gas at the LNG Canada export terminal under construction, in Kitimat, B.C., on Wednesday, September 28, 2022. CP Images photo

Climate change is a global issue, so solutions should be global in nature.   

For example, switching from coal to natural gas to generate power reduces emissions by 50 per cent on average, according to the IEA. Supply from Canada – exported globally as liquefied natural gas (LNG) can do even better, reducing emissions by about 65 per cent compared to coal, according to Energy for a Secure Future.   

Analysts expect world LNG demand to double over the next two decades as growing Asian economies look to get off coal. LNG is now also seen a core energy supply source for Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   

Thanks to a colder climate, lower methane emissions from natural gas production, and the use of hydroelectricity to power facilities in B.C., Canada’s LNG will have some of the lowest emissions in the world.   

A 2022 study by Wood Mackenzie found that Canadian LNG exports could reduce net emissions in Asia by 188 million tonnes per year through 2050. That’s the annual equivalent of removing nearly three times B.C.’s total emissions, or getting rid of all internal combustion engine cars from Canadian roads.    

If Canada shuts down its ability to supply the world with LNG, it will not change demand. The demand will just be met by other countries like the United States, Qatar and Australia.   

Fact: Canada’s oil sands industry has a credible path to net zero  

SAGD oil sands project in northern Alberta. Photo courtesy Cenovus Energy

Six companies representing 95 per cent of Canada’s oil sands production are working together with the goal of net zero emissions in their operations by 2050. This is important as most of Canada’s oil production comes from the oil sands sector.   

The anchor project of the group’s target to reduce emissions by 22 million tonnes by 2030 on the way to net zero by 2050 is carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.    

According to international bodies including the IEA and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, dramatic expansion of CCS operations around the world is vital to achieve climate targets.   

Canada is already a leader in the technology, with five of the world’s 30 commercial CCS facilities. This accounts for about 15 per cent of global CCS capacity even though Canada generates less than two per cent of global CO2 emissions.   

Canada’s CCS operations are working. Since 2000, CCS projects in Saskatchewan and Alberta have removed more than 47 million tonnes of emissions, or the equivalent of taking more than 10 million cars off the road.     

Emissions in Canada’s “conventional” (non-oil sands) oil sector are already going down. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s latest report to the United Nations, emissions from conventional oil production were 26 megatonnes in 2021, down from 34 megatonnes in 2019.   

The world will need oil for decades to come. Supply from Canada, where producers are committed to emissions reduction, is better for the planet than supply from other countries that do not share the same commitment to innovation.   

Fact: Oil and gas benefits Canadians  

Getty Images photo

Shutting down Canada’s oil and gas industry would rob Canadians of huge economic activity and opportunity for economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities.   

According to the federal government, oil and gas supported nearly 600,000 jobs across Canada in 2020. This includes 178,500 “direct” jobs with oil and gas companies and 415,000 “indirect” jobs in supporting industries like engineering and manufacturing.    

In addition to the concentration of jobs in oil and gas producing provinces, there are thousands of jobs in manufacturing, environmental, and financial services tied to the oil and gas industry, especially in Ontario and Quebec.   

In 2020, the oil and gas industry generated $118 billion in GDP. Canada’s total GDP in 2020 was $1.65 trillion, indicating that the oil and gas sector accounted for about 7.2 per cent of the country’s economic activity.     

At the same time, Canada exported $86 billion worth of oil and gas in 2020, or 16 per cent of the country’s total exports. Of those shipments, 95 per cent went to the U.S.     

Together, Canada’s oil sands and natural gas sectors are expected to contribute more than $640 billion to government revenues through 2050, according to CEC research. This helps pay for services like roads, schools and hospitals.  

These economic benefits would evaporate without Canadian oil and gas production.  

Fact: Canadian oil and gas projects benefit Indigenous communities  

Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith celebrates HaiSea Marine’s new tugboat fleet in Istanbul, Turkiye. Photo courtesy HaiSea Marine

Indigenous businesses and communities are becoming increasingly important players in Canadian oil and gas, and that’s good for Canada and the world.   

“When Europeans, Asians and Americans think of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, they often think we oppose all energy development. We aren’t victims of development. Increasingly we are partners and even owners in major projects,” Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith said during a press conference in April.  

The Haisla Nation is 50 per cent owner of the proposed Cedar LNG project, which would be the first Indigenous-owned LNG terminal in the world. The Haisla Nation views it as an opportunity to take ownership of industrial development on their lands and to use revenues to support local social, educational and health programs.   

It’s just one example of the growing role of Indigenous communities in Canadian energy.   

Indigenous communities will have a stake in the LNG Canada project development as well, with 16 communities to acquire a 10% stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline once complete in 2023.   

In Alberta, 23 First Nation and Métis communities are now approximately 12 per cent owners of seven operating Enbridge oil sands pipelines, the largest Indigenous energy transaction ever in North America.   

Since 2014, Indigenous employment in Canada’s oil and gas sector has increased by more than 20 per cent, reaching an estimated 10,400 jobs in 2020, according to the federal government.   

Together, three projects – the Trans Mountain Expansion, Coastal GasLink, and LNG Canada – have spent approximately $9 billion with Indigenous-owned and local businesses.  

Phasing out Canada’s oil and gas industry would remove these opportunities from Indigenous communities.   

Fact: Engagement with oil and gas companies, not divestment, is viewed as the better choice   

John Graham, CEO of CPP Investments. Photo courtesy CPP Investments

Heavy hitters like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have no interest in blanket divesting from oil and gas companies.   

According to CEO John Graham, the critical task of reducing global emissions will require the skills of people inside these companies.  

“If the goal is to actually remove carbon from the economy, then selling doesn’t achieve that. All selling does is sell to someone else who may not share the same values [and] may not have the same objective,” he has said.    

“We continue to invest in oil and gas with a view that here we have a sector that understands energy; that understands how to get energy into people’s hands. Our view is to be an engaged owner/investor within the companies we invest in and express our expectation of a path towards net zero.”  

It’s a view shared by Larry Fink, influential CEO of BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset management firm.   

“Nothing’s more greenwashing than divestiture, because it doesn’t change the footprint of the world,” Fink said in November 2021.   

“We’re not going to get to this decarbonized world that we wish if we don’t invest in technologies and industry that rapidly change our carbonized world to a more decarbonized world. But it’s a lot more complex than just having a bunch of investors moving out of some hydrocarbon companies.”    

Now – and on the long-term road to a carbon neutral future – the world needs more Canadian oil and gas, not less.  

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has updated its net zero scenario, pushing for governments to implement more aggressive climate policies on the energy industry.  

The IEA itself acknowledges the scenario is “a pathway, but not the only one” for the energy sector to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. 

The agency acknowledges the world is not on this trajectory, but the Government of Canada uses the net zero scenario as the basis for policies like its proposed oil and gas emissions cap, which will hurt Canadians without environmental gain.  

“We’re the fourth-largest oil producing country, and we’re the only ones that are saying oil and gas is not here to stay. That’s a huge roadblock for all of us,” Gurpreet Lail, CEO of Enserva, the national trade organization representing energy service and supply companies, told the Globe and Mail during the World Petroleum Congress last week. 

Canada can lead the world with reliable, affordable energy supply and clean technology as countries work to reduce emissions. But the sector needs to be allowed to thrive rather than being phased out while it is needed.  

Here are the facts.  

Fact: The IEA net zero scenario is not a forecast 

The IEA’s updated net zero scenario envisions that the world does not need any new coal, oil and natural gas projects. By 2030, it imagines world oil demand will drop by 23 per cent, natural gas demand by 18 per cent, and coal demand by 44 per cent.  

It’s difficult to see how this could actually come about, given that even with accelerating investment in low carbon energy resources the world’s consumption of oil, gas and coal is as high or higher than it has ever been. And rising.  

The IEA reports both oil and coal demand are at record levels. The agency itself projects the world’s total energy consumption – which increased by 15 per cent over the last decade – will increase by a further 24 per cent by 2050.

On the world’s current trajectory, the IEA says oil, gas and coal will still account for 62 per cent of world energy supply in 2050, compared to 78 per cent in 2021.   

“There’s no evidence that oil demand is going to peak any time soon,” Arjun Murti, former partner with Goldman Sachs, said at the recent Global Business Forum in Banff.

“Oil is not in its sunset phase.” 

Fact: The IEA net zero scenario is unrealistic 

The IEA’s net zero scenario includes components that are unrealistic.  

For example, it says electricity transmission and distribution grids need to expand by around two million kilometres each year to 2030. But it also acknowledges that today, building these grids can take more than a decade, putting that scale and timeline already out of reach.   

The net zero scenario also hinges on a “unified effort in which governments put tensions aside and find ways to work together.” But the IEA also acknowledges the world today is “a complex and low-trust geopolitical environment.”  

Consider that Russia is trying to boost trade with Asia as economic ties with the West shrivel over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, according to Reuters News. In just one example, state-owned Gazprom plans to start gas deliveries to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline in 2025 and expand that service in 2030 with Power of Siberia-2.    

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accentuated the world’s reversal away from the concept of globalization, where everyone benefits from the global economy, leading energy analyst and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin said on a recent ARC Energy Ideas podcast.  

“The era of globalization was what I call the WTO consensus: we’re all in this global economy together. In China, hundreds of millions of people come out of poverty. India enters the global economy, standards of living go up and you get really impressive economic performance,” Yergin said.  

“Well, that era is ending and it’s heading pretty fast now as we move into this new era of great power competition, which hopefully does not become great power confrontation.” 

Energy is at the heart of the “new map,” as Yergin calls it. 

Responsibly produced, reliable energy from Canada can benefit world energy security while helping reduce emissions. That is why it is essential the sector is not phased out through government policy. 

Fact: Canadian energy and clean technology can help reduce world emissions 

One of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce emissions is to switch from coal-fired power to power generated from natural gas, traded globally as LNG.    

Consider that between 2005 and 2019, emissions from the U.S power sector dropped by 32 per cent because of coal-to-gas switching, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.   

Natural gas from the LNG Canada project alone could reduce emissions in Asia by up to 90 million tonnes annually, or the equivalent of shutting down up to 60 Asian coal plants, the project says.  

That’s a reduction of more than the entire emissions of the province of British Columbia, which were 64 million tonnes in 2022.    

Expanding Canada’s LNG exports to Asia could reduce emissions by 188 million tonnes per year, or the annual equivalent of taking all internal combustion engine vehicles off Canadian roads, according to a 2022 study by Wood Mackenzie.   

One of the reasons LNG from Canada has a lower emissions intensity than LNG from other jurisdictions is the success producers have seen reducing methane emissions. It’s an opportunity for technology exports. 

The IEA views cutting methane emissions from oil and gas as a critical component of achieving climate targets.  

The latest data shows that oil and gas producers in Alberta decreased methane emissions by 44 per cent between 2014 and 2021, a 10 per cent drop from 2020. The sector is expected to surpass the target of reducing methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025.   

“I don’t know of any other jurisdiction that is as far forward in terms of its methane management as Canada,” says Allan Fogwill, chief operating officer of Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada.  

“There’s nothing to suggest we couldn’t have similar impacts in the United States, the Middle East, or former Soviet countries that also are involved in oil and natural gas production.” 

Fact: Canada’s carbon capture and storage leadership can benefit the world 

The IEA says “rapid progress” is required to deploy more carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects to reduce emissions.  

This is another area where Canada’s energy sector can take the lead.  

Since 2000, CCS projects in Saskatchewan and Alberta have removed more than 47 million tonnes of emissions, or the equivalent of taking more than 10 million cars off the road. This work has helped inform development of major CCS projects globally including Northern Lights in Norway.  

Canada has five of the world’s 30 commercial CCS facilities, accounting for about 15 per cent of global CCS capacity even though Canada generates less than two per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to the Global CCS Knowledge Centre.  

Among CCS projects under development in Canada is one of the largest in the world, proposed by the Pathways Alliance of oil sands producers.  

The first phase of the Pathways CCS project will connect 14 oil sands facilities to a CO2 storage hub in northern Alberta. The target is to reduce emissions from operations by 22 megatonnes by 2030 on the way to net zero in 2050. 

Fact: Oil and gas still needed in IEA net zero scenario 

Even in the IEA’s net zero scenario, in 2050 about 14 per cent of world energy needs are still supplied by oil and gas.   

This includes non-combustion uses like petrochemical feedstock and asphalt, which crude from Canada’s oil sands is particularly well suited to supply. Researchers with Queen’s University recently found that asphalt from Alberta’s oil sands can extend pavement lifespan by 30 to 50 per cent.    

The world needs more Canadian oil and gas, not less.   

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A group of Hollywood filmmakers including Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix and Rachel McAdams is calling on the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to drop RBC as its main sponsor. 

They say RBC is not a “worthy source of financing” for Canadian film because of its ongoing support for Canadian oil and gas. They claim RBC is fueling climate change and disrespecting Indigenous rights.  

They are wrong.  

RBC is helping fund climate solutions while enabling Indigenous self-determination and prosperity. And Indigenous communities do not want Hollywood to speak for them.  

Here are the facts.  

Fact: RBC primarily funds Canadian oil and gas, and the world needs more Canadian oil and gas – not less 

The world’s growing population needs access to reliable, affordable, responsibly produced energy. And a lot more of it.  

According to the United Nations, last November the global population reached 8 billion people, just over a decade after hitting the landmark 7 billion in 2011. Driven by India and China, the world’s population is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion 2050.  

All those people need energy. Many don’t even have it today, with about 775 million without access to electricity last year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).  

Even with accelerating investment in low carbon energy resources, the world’s consumption of oil, gas and coal is as high or higher than it has ever been, with both oil and coal demand reaching new records this year, the IEA reports.  

The agency projects the world’s total energy consumption – which increased by 15 per cent over the last decade – will increase by a further 24 per cent by 2050.  

On the world’s current trajectory, the IEA says oil, gas and coal will account for 62 per cent of world energy supply in 2050, compared to 78 per cent in 2021.  

As IEA executive director Fatih Birol said last year, “We will still need oil and gas for years to come… I prefer that oil is produced by countries like Canada who want to reduce the emissions of oil and gas.” 

Canada has been a cornerstone of global energy markets and a reliable partner for years, he said. 

Fact: Coastal GasLink will help reduce emissions  

The Hollywood activists take issue with RBC’s funding of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. This is nonsensical because the project can help reduce emissions in Asia. It also has the support of and is benefiting Indigenous communities.  

One of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce emissions is to switch from coal-fired power to power generated from natural gas, traded globally as LNG.  

Consider that between 2005 and 2019, emissions from the U.S power sector dropped by 32 per cent because of coal-to-gas switching, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  

The LNG Canada project – supplied with Canadian natural gas via Coastal GasLink – will have among the world’s lowest emissions intensity, at 0.15 per cent CO2 per tonne compared to the global average of 0.35 per cent CO2 per tonne, according to Oxford Energy Institute.  

Natural gas from LNG Canada alone could reduce emissions in Asia by up to 90 million tonnes annually, or the equivalent of shutting down up to 60 Asian coal plants, the project says. That’s also a reduction of more than the entire emissions of the province of British Columbia, which were 64 million tonnes in 2022.   

Expanding Canada’s LNG exports to Asia could reduce emissions by 188 million tonnes per year, or the annual equivalent of taking all internal combustion engine vehicles off Canadian roads, according to a 2022 study by Wood Mackenzie.  

“It is a disservice to take the choice of Canadian LNG away from those that need it,” Billy Morin, former chief of the Enoch Cree Nation, said earlier this year. 

Fact: Coastal GasLink benefits Indigenous communities 

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is enabling shared prosperity between Indigenous communities and Canada’s energy industry.  

Not only will it connect to the LNG Canada terminal on the traditional lands of the Haisla Nation – where the project has been transformational for the community, according to Chief Councillor Crystal Smith – but it will also provide natural gas for the proposed Cedar LNG project, in which the Haisla Nation is 50 per cent owner. 

“Cedar is not only important from a Haisla perspective, [but from] a global perspective,” Smith says.  

“Our territory is not in a bubble and protected from what is happening in Asia and India with coal burning.” 

Sixteen First Nations will become 10 per cent owners of the Coastal GasLink pipeline itself once it is completed.  

And so far, LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink together have spent more than $5.7 billion with Indigenous-owned and local businesses.    

“When there is foreign interference, especially from high-profile celebrities like Ruffalo, it sets us back. He does not think beyond the pipeline. He does not think beyond the cause of the day,” Indigenous policy analyst Melissa Mbarki wrote following a previous attack on Coastal GasLink by the actor.   

“Over the long term, such actions serve to drive away investment and keep Indigenous communities in poverty. We are dealing with so many social issues, including high rates of suicide, incarceration and homelessness. Speaking on our behalf is not the answer if you fail to acknowledge the entire story.”    

Fact: Indigenous communities speak with their own voices 

Ruffalo is a prominent activist against the Coastal GasLink pipeline, often spreading misinformation about the project’s relationship with Indigenous communities. But they are fighting back.  

“Hollywood celebrities from outside of Canada are actively campaigning against the Coastal GasLink project, claiming Indigenous People do not support it. However, 20 elected First Nations governments along the route do support it,” the Indigenous Resource Network said in a statement last year.  

“Hollywood celebrities are standing in the way of us being able to make our own decisions. Their main goal is to push their agenda and use us as talking points; ultimately, communities are left to pick up the pieces. 

“Although their intentions may be to help Indigenous people in Canada, this can be best done by allowing our people to use their own voices. We are able to decide for ourselves what is best for ourselves and our communities.” 

Fact: The film industry has its own emissions to deal with 

Rather than campaign against Canadian energy projects that can help reduce emissions and foster prosperity for Indigenous communities, Hollywood film makers could be better served addressing the emissions in their own backyard.  

A 2020 study by the British Film Institute analyzing the emissions associated with producing movies in the U.S. and U.K. found that films with a budget of $70 million or over generate an average 2,840 tonnes of CO2 pollution. 

Air travel alone to support a movie production of this scale generates equivalent emissions of flying one way from London to New York 150 times, BFI said.  

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Just as they did with university endowment funds, divestment activists are now pressuring university pension plans to abandon investment in oil and gas companies.  

That’s why InvestNow has called on 20,000 university professors to reject the divestment agenda. 

In Ontario, Shift Action is pressuring the University Pension Plan – which represents the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, the University of Guelph and Trent University – to “remove oil and gas companies from its portfolio,” citing growing financial risk.    

This is a classic example of biting the hand that feeds you. Publicly funded universities are being asked to no longer invest in oil and gas, yet they continue to benefit from the sector. Universities and their pension plans are tax-funded to the tune of billions of public tax dollars. A big portion of those tax dollars comes from the oil and gas sector and its workers.  

Do professors understand the consequences of divestment? Divestment advocates say their efforts strike a blow against climate change, but the world needs oil and gas every day. In 2050, oil and gas are expected to still supply 47 per cent of world energy needs, compared to 52 per cent today, according to the International Energy Agency.  

Canada’s oil and natural gas industry operates under some of the most stringent environmental regulations in the world. If people don’t use ours, their needs will be met by other countries with lower standards. So, divestment hurts the environment. It also hurts Canada.  

The oil and gas sector is our biggest exporting industry, is a top-three contributor to Canada’s GDP, supports 600,000 jobs across the country, and contributes billions annually to government coffers in taxes and royalties—including the salaries of university professors and staff.  

Divesting from Canadian oil and gas does not reduce global emissions, does not reduce demand and does not foster innovation. Divesting from oil and gas threatens to constrain supply and lead to shortages and higher prices. Divesting from oil and gas costs jobs. 

Divestment hurts at all levels.   

For the professor, their pensions are at risk. Oil and gas companies have had some of the strongest returns on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). To eliminate these companies from the investment pool solely for ideological reasons is folly and goes against the duty to maximize returns.  

For everyday Canadians, their livelihoods are at risk.  

For Canada, the economy is at risk. 

The end goal of divestment is the end of Canadian energy. With that comes a hobbled economy: supply shortages, higher prices, shuttered factories, job losses, energy poverty.  

It’s time to invest in Canadian oil and gas for the good of the economy, the environment, pension plan members, and everyday Canadians. 

Gina Pappano is executive director of InvestNow Inc., a non-profit dedicated to demonstrating that investing in Canada’s resource sectors helps Canada and the world. Join the movement and pass the InvestNow resolution at investnow.org. 

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Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the Competition Board of Canada claiming that the oil sands Pathways Alliance is “greenwashing” about its plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.  

Oil sands producers are not greenwashing. Here are the facts.  

Fact: Carbon capture and storage works 

Pathways is an alliance of six companies representing 95 per cent of oil sands production. The anchor project of the group’s target to reduce emissions by 22 million tonnes by 2030 on the way to net zero by 2050 is carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.  

According to experts including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), expansion of CCS operations around the world is vital to achieve climate targets.  

Canada is already a leader in CCS, with five of the world’s 30 commercial CCS facilities. This accounts about 15 per cent of global CCS capacity even though Canada generates less than two per cent of global CO2 emissions. 

Since 2000, CCS projects in Saskatchewan and Alberta have removed more than 47 million tonnes of emissions, or the equivalent of taking more than 10 million cars off the road. 

Fact: Pathways is moving fast toward building one of the world’s largest CCS projects 

The first phase of the Pathways CCS project will connect 14 oil sands facilities to a CO2 storage hub in northern Alberta. At an expected cost of $16.5 billion by 2030, it is a huge undertaking.  

A $10 million engineering contract has been awarded, early engagement is underway with more than 20 Indigenous communities, and 135 environmental experts are conducting field work to support a regulatory application.  

The reality is it is impossible for the group to invest billions right now because its CCS project has not been approved by governments to proceed.  

Building major projects around the world happens in phases. Spending increases over time as work moves through phases of feasibility studies, to procurement of equipment, and then construction. Pathways is in the feasibility studies phase and working on all the items governments require and plans to file its application in late 2023. 

Fact: Scope 1 is the best place to start reducing emissions 

The complaint says that the Pathways plan to achieve net zero is not credible because it does not yet include the full value chain of emissions.  

This is otherwise known as all of Scope 1 (emissions an entity makes directly), Scope 2 (emissions an entity makes indirectly like from electricity use), and Scope 3 (emissions from everything all the way down to the end-use of an entity’s products, like gasoline in a car).    

The Pathways plan starts with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions but will ultimately include Scope 3, president Kendall Dilling recently told BNN Bloomberg.   

“We wanted to really start with our own business first and take care of our own backyard,” he said.  

“We are looking at ways we can partner with end users of our product to also tackle the consumption emissions, and over the course of this path to net zero we’ll be coming at this from all ends of the spectrum.”  

In order to be effective, emissions reduction strategies should focus first on the fastest and most effective solutions while developing long-term answers.

It makes sense that a company should start with Scope 1 and Scope 2, or emissions that are within its direct control.  

Fact: Canadian oil benefits Canadians and the world 

The complaint takes issue with the fact that oil sands production is growing. Activists would prefer that the industry reduce production and shut down. But shutting off Canada’s ability to supply oil to the world would have no impact on how much oil the world uses, or how much emissions that use generates.   

The International Energy Agency projects that oil and gas will still meet 47 per cent of world energy demand in 2050, compared to about 52 per cent today.  

Shutting down Canada’s oil sands would only shift supply to regions that are less responsible actors in areas like social progress, environmental protection and worker safety. Meanwhile, it would rob Canadians of huge economic activity and opportunity for economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities.  

As IEA executive director Fatih Birol said last year, “We will still need oil and gas for years to come… I prefer that oil is produced by countries… like Canada who want to reduce the emissions of oil and gas.”  

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It’s been a stormy year for global energy markets and the discussion of Canada’s role as an oil and gas supplier now and in the future.  

In 2022, the Canadian Energy Centre published nearly 100 articles, columns, research briefs and fact sheets debunking misinformation and demonstrating Canada is the solution to improve world energy security while helping reduce emissions.

Here are our top seven most viewed posts of the year.

7. A Matter of Fact: Federal minister Guilbeault misrepresents Canada’s role in global energy markets

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault speaks during a press conference at the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on November 12, 2021. Getty Images photo

In March, federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault told media Canada is not the solution for Europe’s energy security crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.   

He was wrong, and misleading Canadians about what we can do to help our allies and the world.   

CEC debunked the main points made by the former Greenpeace activist. 

Read More   

6. A Matter of Fact: F1 driver Sebastian Vettel’s oil sands criticism rife with hypocrisy 

Sebastian Vettel of Germany speaks to media prior to practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Canada on June 17, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec. Getty Images photo

In June, German Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel arrived at the Montreal Grand Prix in a T-shirt calling Canada’s oil sands industry a “climate crime.” 

He sat on a podium in gear emblazoned with his sponsor logos including OPEC oil giant Saudi Aramco – owned by the state of Saudi Arabia – and told reporters Alberta’s oil sands industry is “criminal.”  

CEC highlighted the staggering hypocrisy in these actions.   

F1 drivers are now required to have prior written permission to make ‘political statements’ from the sport’s governing body. 

Read More  

5. Why the USA needs Keystone XL 

A portion of the Keystone XL pipeline near Oyen, Alberta. Photograph courtesy Government of Alberta

Throughout 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden sought to reduce costs for Americans by increasing available oil supply. But not by expanding imports from Canada or encouraging drilling in the U.S.  

Instead he took actions like unsuccessfully appealing to OPEC+ to increase production, and taking historic withdrawals from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  

Against this backdrop, CEC reflected on the benefits the Keystone XL pipeline would have provided if it had not been cancelled by Biden on his first day in office. 

Read More  

4. Up to 350 per cent higher at the pump by 2030: The impact of higher carbon taxes on gasoline prices 

Motorists fill their vehicles at Richmond and Parliament in Toronto. Getty Images photo

Impacts on Canadians will be significant as the federal carbon tax increases, according to CEC research.

Between 2021 and 2030, gasoline costs associated with the carbon tax are expected to rise from 8.8 to 39.6 cents per litre.

Read More

3. Foreign oil imports to Canada: $488 billion between 1988 and 2020

An oil tanker in Quebec City. Getty Images photo

Despite Canada’s position as one of the world’s top oil producers, crude oil imports are a significant part of the country’s energy mix, according to CEC research.

Between 1988 and 2020, Canada spent $488 billion on foreign oil imports, with Quebec by far the largest importer of foreign oil into Canada over the period.  

Read More  

2. Commentary: CBC needs to ensure balanced coverage of Coastal GasLink dispute 

Getty Images photo

News emerged in February that the CBC is funding a documentary about the Coastal GasLink pipeline produced by a self-described anarchist from the U.S. who doesn’t seem to like “so-called Canada” and promotes violence against the police. 

A previous short film on the dispute over the pipeline by the same production team ignored that all 20 elected First Nations governments along the 670-kilometre route (including five Wet’suwet’en bands) support the project.  

CEC called for the CBC to follow its own publicly posted Journalistic Standards and Practices, which state coverage of civil disturbances must strive to be balanced, and not involve active participation by those documenting events. 

Read More 

1. Canada’s oil and gas industry is committed to innovation, emissions reduction and benefits for Indigenous communities 

From the globally unique emissions reduction projects of the Pathways Alliance to the rising role of Indigenous communities in Canadian LNG, we highlight how Canada is innovating while continuing to supply the responsible, reliable, affordable energy the world needs.   

Read More 

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Environmental Defence has published an advertisement in the Montreal Gazette that misleads Canadians about oil sands tailings.

What the activist group ignores is the demonstrated progress the industry is making to address this challenge.  

Here are the facts.  

Fact: Oil sands producers are leaders in tailings management 

Tailings are a byproduct of mining operations around the world. According to the Mining Association of Canada, they consist of the processed rock or soil left over from the separation of the commodities of value from the rock or soil within which they occur. 

In the oil sands, tailings are a mixture of sand, silt, clay, water and residual bitumen produced in the mining extraction process.   

Oil sands producers are addressing the challenge to reduce tailings through technology R&D, investing more than $50 million on tailings research each year through Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance.  

Collectively, companies have invested more than $10 billion in solutions for tailings reduction, according to BMO Capital Markets.

Fact: New technologies are making a difference 

Thanks to new technologies, oil sands producers are now reducing the volume of “legacy tailings,” or tailings put in storage before 2015.  

Since 2015, the sector has removed more than 270 million cubic metres of legacy tailings from the environment, or a reduction of 24 per cent.   

All six mining projects that have legacy tailings present reduced those volumes in 2021, according to performance reports published by the Alberta Energy Regulator.  

Tailings management technologies include centrifuge facilities, CO2 injection, the addition of polymers, coagulants and thickeners, and water capping.   

Fact: Suncor is now reducing total tailings 

Suncor Energy’s Base Plant leads oil sands tailings reduction efforts, having removed approximately 190 million cubic meters of legacy tailings since 2016.   

The work is so successful that total tailings – not just legacy tailings – at the facility are going down.   

Suncor reduced total tailings at its Base Plant by 15 per cent between 2015 and 2021, removing nearly 50 million cubic metres of tailings from the environment.  

“Total inventories are shrinking, and we are ahead of regulatory requirements,” the company said in its 2021 Sustainability Report.    

“Over the last 10 years, one pond has been surface reclaimed and two more are advancing to closure; one of those ponds is currently being drained and we anticipate it being removed from the landscape this decade.” 

Fact: Tailings are being reclaimed 

In 2010, Suncor reclaimed the first oil sands tailings pond to a solid surface. Wapisiw Lookout, as it is now known, is 220 hectares that includes a developing mixed wood forest, streams, and a small marsh wetland.  

Meanwhile, Canadian Natural Resources reports that its three oil sands mines have reclaimed a total of 1,100 hectares of tailings facilities, creating natural features like stream, wetlands, and upland forest areas.  

And Imperial reports that more than 80 per cent of its oil sands tailings inventory is now in its final resting place and on the trajectory for full reclamation.  

Fact: Technology has significantly slowed the growth of new tailings  

While companies work to reduce legacy tailings and reclaim tailings ponds, they are also creating less new tailings while producing more oil.  

In 2021, despite oil sands mining production reaching a record 1.59 million barrels per day, total oil sands tailings increased by 11.7 million cubic meters – the lowest amount of growth in the last five years, according to the AER. 

For comparison, in 2016 oil sands mining production averaged 1.1 million barrels per day, and total tailings grew by a substantially larger 59.6 million cubic meters. 

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The federal government’s planned tax on corporate share buybacks is intended to encourage companies to “reinvest their profits in Canadian workers,” according to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.  

But this doesn’t make sense for Canada’s oil and gas industry.  

With programs like the Impact Assessment Act (formerly known as Bill C-69), Canada has created a regulatory environment where it is near impossible for oil and gas companies to invest in growing what they do best – producing the responsible, reliable energy the world needs. 

With higher oil and gas prices, Canadians are already benefitting from higher government revenues that help pay for social services like roads, schools, and hospitals.    

With more export oil and gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, the benefits across Canada would be even higher.   

Fact: Canada’s oil and gas industry is committed to emissions reduction 

The federal government wants Canada’s oil producers to invest in reducing emissions. And they are.  

The Pathways Alliance of the six largest oil sands producers plans to spend $24.1 billion on emissions reduction by 2030 as the first step on their joint path to net zero emissions by 2050.  

This includes approximately $16.5 billion of investment by 2030 on one of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, and $7.6 billion on other emissions reductions projects. 

Canada’s oil sands producers are already successfully reducing emissions per barrel, achieving a decrease of 20 per cent between 2009 and 2020, according to IHS Markit. Reductions in total emissions – not just emissions per barrel – are expected to go down within the next five years.  

Through Pathways, Canada’s oil sands is the only major oil basin where producers have jointly committed to reach net zero. That’s great news for the world, given that oil demand is growing and expected to stay strong through 2050.  

Even with the rise of renewable energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects world oil demand will increase from 94.5 million barrels per day in 2021 to 102 million barrels per day in 2030. By 2050, the IEA projects demand will still be 102 million barrels per day.  

Fact: Canadians already benefit from higher oil and gas prices 

The federal government wants Canadians to benefit from higher oil and gas prices. And they are.  

Across the country, royalties are paid to provincial governments on a “sliding scale” that increases when the price of oil and gas does. 

In Alberta’s oil sands, for example, most projects are separated into pre- and post-payout royalty categories, determined by whether the project has recovered its initial capital costs.  

For a pre-payout project, the royalty rate is 1 per cent of gross revenues at oil prices up to $55 per barrel. When prices increase to $120 per barrel or higher, the royalty rate rises to 9 per cent.  

For a post-payout project, the oil sands royalty rate is 25 per cent when oil is $55 per barrel or less. When it rises to $125 or more, the rate increases to 40 per cent. The rate rises gradually between $55 and $120. At $80, for example, projects must pay the government royalties at 30 per cent of gross revenues.  

With higher prices, Alberta’s bitumen royalties are now expected to reach $20.1 billion this fiscal year, up by $9.7 billion or 94 per cent compared to February’s provincial budget. The increase is in part because higher oil prices are helping projects reach the payout royalty phase more quickly.  

Across Canada, oil and gas companies are expected to pay about $50 billion in royalties and taxes this year, according to research by both RBC Capital Markets and Peters & Co.  

That’s about 200 per cent more than in 2021 because of higher prices. And it’s equivalent to more than two-thirds of the funding for all of Canada’s hospitals last year. 

Canadians – and the world – benefit from a strong and growing Canadian oil and gas industry. The federal government would do more to increase prosperity by allowing and encouraging the sector to thrive.  

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