Conservative Party’s agreement to fossil fuel executives’ demands raises alarm bells for Canadian sovereignty and climate progress

Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories [OTTAWA], 1 April 2025:

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) is 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, as announced today.

“Time and again, the fossil fuel industry has shown that it’s not acting in the best interests of Canadians—from profiting off of the affordability crisis to failing to clean up their messes or curb their pollution,” said Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of CAN-Rac.

“Many of the oil and gas companies who issued these demands are largely U.S.-owned, with close ties to the Trump administration. Their call for the federal government to declare a national energy crisis is copied straight from the MAGA playbook.

“So why does the Conservative Party want to capitulate to their unreasonable demands, at the cost of Canada’s sovereignty, communities’ health and safety, and our climate progress? If this announcement is intended as an April Fools’ Day joke, it’s not particularly funny.”

With further U.S. tariffs potentially coming tomorrow, recent polling shows that three in four Canadians favour putting retaliatory tariffs on exports to the U.S. including oil and gas—which the fossil fuel industry has lobbied against. Canadians must be able to trust that the next government will put their interests, and those of their country, over what is convenient for the fossil fuel industry.

CAN-Rac has called on all parties to resist the oil and gas lobby’s attempts to capitalize on this crisis, and invest instead in renewable energy, a green industrial strategy, and protections for workers.

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