Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories [OTTAWA], 9 April 2025:
In response to the Liberal Party of Canada’s plan to “make Canada the world’s leading energy superpower,” Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada, issued the following statement:
“We’re glad to see the Liberal Party highlighting that investing in clean electricity capacity is critical for our sovereignty and economy. The sun and wind are free, abundant resources that Donald Trump cannot weaponize—so let’s make use of them and build out the supporting infrastructure for a national East-West electricity grid. This would bring Canadians cheaper electricity, more reliable energy, and would fortify our energy sovereignty. Even better: it would create tens of thousands of sustainable jobs, both in short-term construction of interprovincial transmission lines, and in long-term maintenance of the grid.
“But the references to investing in ‘conventional energy’ leave a lot of uncertainty. If that’s a euphemism for continuing the status quo approach of expanding fossil fuels, that means pipelines going across Indigenous lands, many billions sunk into stranded assets, and climate harm caused by increased emissions that will come back to hurt us in the form of floods and wildfires.
“Prime Minister Carney and the Liberal Party must be clear: fossil fuels are making us more vulnerable. Renewables are our path to security. An all-of-the-above approach simply does not work.”
Further analysis:
- On the pledge to “Double the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 to $10 billion and expand it to support more Indigenous-led infrastructure, transportation and trade projects across the country”: Support for Indigenous communities’ leadership in infrastructure projects is essential. Loan guarantee programs hold potential for Nations pursuing their visions of energy sovereignty. Indigenous communities are already leading the way in the clean energy transition, and additional funding will accelerate this. However, high-risk pipeline and upstream projects could monopolize loan programs and crowd out essential backing for Nations with interests in lower-risk projects such as electricity generation, battery, and transmission projects. For example, if the costs of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, which is co-owned by the Nisga’a Nation, overrun like the Trans Mountain Expansion Project did, the overall budget would inflate multiple times over—requiring a much larger loan guarantee.
- On the pledge to “Sign Cooperation and Substitution Agreements with all willing provinces., territories, and Indigenous Governing Bodies within six months, ensuring that projects only go through one review that uphold environmental standards and Indigenous Consultation”: CAN-Rac supports efforts to coordinate project assessments between all implicated jurisdictions in Canada—but this must not sacrifice the rigour required to properly protect waters, land, species, people, and the climate. The finalized Indigenous Impact Assessment Co-Administration Agreement Regulations must facilitate cooperation and substitution to Indigenous governing bodies in a way that respects Indigenous Knowledge, laws, and jurisdiction over the environment. This coordinated approach must result in an improvement of provincial environmental assessment regimes across the country to ensure that the standard set by the Impact Assessment Act is met across the country to protect the environment and uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
- On the pledge to “[establish] a Major Federal Project Office with a new comprehensive mandate to move forward with One Project, One Review issuing decisions on major projects within two years instead of five, while fully upholding environmental integrity and Indigenous rights”: This commitment must put the onus properly on proponents to undertake adequate studies and reviews of their projects ahead of time, so that they can come to the table with the new Project Office with a well-informed and well-developed project. Most project delays are largely due to proponent requests for more time from the government as they undertake further studies to better understand the potential impacts of their projects on the environment, species at risk, migratory birds, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. These considerations cannot be abandoned. Further, the emphasis on one project, one review is reciprocal, and requires proponents to adequately scope their project proposals to include all of the necessary components of their project in a single proposal, including all roads necessary to connect the project site to existing transportation infrastructure.
- On the pledge to “Kickstart the clean energy supply chain by investing in critical minerals”: The extraction of minerals is necessary for the clean economy, but must be situated within an effort to drastically improve Canada’s energy efficiency and sobriety. As well, the federal government must respect Indigenous sovereignty over the lands they have stewarded since time immemorial. This means a meaningful commitment to respect for the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous communities affected by critical mineral mining projects, including in the Ring of Fire. This includes respecting situations where Indigenous communities choose not to consent to a project that would irreparably harm their traditional territory and fundamentally alter their way of life.
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Canada’s farthest-reaching network of organizations working on climate and energy issues, Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of over 180 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Our membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Vicky Coo, Communications Manager
comms@climateactionnetwork.ca