Nothing is off the table for the NDP as it prepares for a full-out crusade against the Canadian oil and gas industry in ongoing committee hearings.
NDP MPs told the media they are concocting a plan to hold not just “Big Oil and Gas” accountable for allegedly “burning the planet” but also the Conservative and Liberal parties for allowing it.
As they grill oil and gas executives in a House of Commons environment committee hearing, the NDP wants the world to compare oil and gas producers to the tobacco industry so they can ban them from advertising.
Laurel Collins, the NDP critic for the environment and climate change, and Charlie Angus the party’s natural resources critic said during a press conference that the hearing would be an opportunity to show Canadians how producing energy was “making people sick.”
“This is the Big Tobacco moment for oil and gas. We have to hold these companies accountable. They are not good corporate citizens. They are not attempting to reduce emissions, and they’re saying we will continue to make profits we will continue to burn your children’s future,” Angus said before entering the committee hearing.
Citing United Nations recommendations, Angus and Collins want to introduce windfall taxes against the fossil fuel industry and place similar advertising restrictions as “Big Tobacco” has.
“Big Oil CEOs like Rich Kruger know damn well what they’re doing, and they don’t give a damn… They’re asking to increase production in the tar sands which has the highest greenhouse gas emissions levels on the planet,” Angus said. “This has got to be dealt with. This is why we support the UN call to end oil and gas advertising, that is a threat to human health.”
The NDP’s Bill C-372 could fine and give jail time to anyone who promotes fossil fuels without government approval.
Conservatives want to “kill Bill C-372.”
“The world needs more Canadian energy, not less, and Canada should be a world leader in developing and exporting clean energy,” the Conservative statement said.
Another way Angus and Collins want to impose restrictions on the oil and gas industry is through Bill C-59.
The restrictions would force oil and gas to prove any claims that their products have environmental, social and ecological benefits in accordance with “internationally recognized methodology” to a national court.
Angus echoed recent comments by UN Secretary-General António Guterres who called oil and gas producers “the godfathers of climate chaos.”
“When the United Nations is saying enough is enough, we have to hold (industry leaders) accountable for the fact that they have actively impeded climate change action.” Angus said. “They falsely claim that if we massively increase Canada’s oil and gas industry, we will benefit the world. These are false claims. They’re making people sick, and they need to be held accountable.”
Collins derided the success energy companies enjoyed in Canada at a time when consumers were being “gouged” at the pump and Canadians struggled to put food on the table.
Her solution? More taxes for oil and gas producers.
“(Canadians) are also facing evacuations from their homes as they worry that their homes are going to be burned to the ground,” she said. “Every summer now they are choking on smoke. Their kids can’t go outside to play because the air is not clean enough to breathe. We are facing a climate emergency.”
Based on the UN’s extreme weather event data, however, there has not been a rise in extreme weather events such as wildfires.
A Fraser Institute study using the UN’s data found that the rate and intensity of wildfires has shown “no clear trend of increasing,” and in the case of Canada has decreased over the last few decades.
Collins criticized the Liberals for their complicity in the “climate catastrophe, by “backing down” from a considered “excess profits” tax on “Big Oil and Gas.”
“We want to hold the Big Oil and Gas CEOs accountable, but also the liberals and conservatives who continue to give handouts,” Collins said. “The Liberals invited an oil and gas executive to help them craft their climate plan. That is like inviting the fox to help you build your henhouse. These oil and gas CEOs have a vested interest in undermining Canadian climate policy.”