It was bound to happen sooner or later. The UCP government’s over the top reactions to anything the federal government does finally pushed it into the looney zone.
On May 29, Rebecca Schutz, the Environment Minister, issued a press release railing on about Bill- C-59.
My god, the inhumanity!!!
Schulz said the federal NDP snuck an amendment into Bill C-59 that “threatened fines and jail time for Canada’s oil and gas industry if they tried to defend their record on the environment.”
Not true. There is nothing in C-59 that stops industry from defending its environmental record anytime it wants to.
“Environmental activists will be able to bring claims against oil and gas companies under so called ‘anti-greenwashing provisions.’”
Actually, it’s the “misleading environmental benefits” provision. The word “misleading” is important. The prohibition is intended to stop companies from misleading the public about their environmental and climate mitigation performance.
The prohibition against misleading the public is not new. It’s a fundamental tenet of securities law and competition law. Why? Because companies shouldn’t be allowed to rip off their investors, shareholders, and the public by spreading lies and half-truths or conveniently forgetting to mention something important.
“Companies that wish to defend their environmental record will have to prove that their claims can be substantiated by an ‘internationally recognized methodology,’ a vague and undefined phrase that creates needless uncertainty for businesses.
Yes, companies accused of misleading the public will have to prove that they are indeed doing what they say they’re doing for the climate.
And yes, the term “internationally recognized methodology” is undefined, but one thing that’s certain is this standard will be a widely accepted standard (similar to the international GAAP rules and other securities laws reporting standards) and not one dreamed up by the environmentalists bringing the action. That should give the companies a high level of certainty and flexibility.
“Any company not willing to risk millions of dollars in fines and legal fees will be forced to stay silent.”
Ah, no. Any company not willing to risk millions of dollars will be forced to tell the truth. That won’t cost them a dime.
“C-59, put plain and simply, is an undemocratic gag order. It must be stopped.”
I’m sorry. What?
Due diligence
Bill C-59 is the opposite of an “undemocratic gag order.” It requires companies to say more, not less, about how they’re going to achieve their climate mitigation objectives.
This is not difficult or complicated (unless the backup for a grandiose statement is non-existent).
Let’s take an example from the Pathways Alliance website. After C-59 becomes law, Pathways would be wise to ask a lawyer to review this statement to ensure it isn’t misleading.*
The lawyer would ask the questions similar to those I’ve set out in bold.
Pathways said: “We have set ambitious targets (what are those targets? please describe) for the oil sands sector to achieve significant annual CO2 reductions (what are the annual reductions? are they “significant”? please quantify) by 2030 and reach net zero emissions from operations by 2050.” (Describe the operations and explain how they will reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050).
These questions would go out to all the companies who belong to the Pathways Alliance and the answers would be analysed by the lawyers in those companies and at Pathways; once everyone was satisfied the answers would be saved in the lawyers’ due diligence/backup files.
If an investigation or action was brought against Pathways under C-59 with respect to that statement, these answers would be produced to support the statement and to show it is consistent with whatever internationally recognized methodology Pathways chose to adopt.
None of this is new
The C-59 process would be no different than the typical corporate securities process followed by any publicly traded company.
I’ve conducted due diligence on securities filings for decades with companies that run complex oil and natural gas businesses to ensure the company’s statements comply with securities laws. The process takes weeks, it involves the CEO and the VPs heading up every department in the corporation, and at the end of the process when everyone is satisfied the company’s statements are not misleading and nothing material has been omitted,and the statements are true, the document is filed with the regulator.
Not once in my entire legal career has a CEO complained that the process of complying with the obligation to be truthful is akin to “an undemocratic gag order.” It’s simply part of doing business.
Schulz appears to be saying that the industry (which is responsible for 30% of Canada’s emissions and, despite its statements to the contrary, has seen emissions steadily increase since since 2005) should be allowed to say whatever it damn well pleases.
Sorry, Rebecca. Albertans own the resources these companies are selling, it’s our tax dollars propping up their climate mitigation schemes, we deserve the truth, not bafflegab from companies that pat us on the head and tell us don’t worry, everything will be just dandy in 2050.
That’s why Bill C-59 is a good idea.
*NOTE: I’m not saying the statement is misleading, I’m demonstrating the questions a lawyer might ask to gather the backup necessary to support it.
Susan on the Soapbox 
Unfortunately Schulz’s distortion of the state of reality is likely the one message the electorate is likely to get. UCP knows they can distort reality anyway they wish and persuade the electorate to think and act as UCP wishes. Systematic distortion of messaging is characteristic of a fascist regime. So also is taking control of other levels of government; taking control of sources of funds, retirement funds, for ideological uses; stifling information from various sources, e.g. related to covid and vaccines and other elements of health care; wanting to have their own police force, not the RCMP, and generally basing decision-making on ideological rather than empirical evidence.
David, you make an excellent point. One that the academics and some journalists have finally seized upon. But as I heard a Republican (disgusted with Trump) say on CBC, the public isn’t worried about saving democracy, they’re worried about saving a few cents on groceries.
I wonder how UCP supporters can reconcile the fact that although Alberta is the richest province in Canada, its healthcare and education system is below par and its unemployment rate is the second highest in the land. I guess the chants “Axe the Tax” and “Gag-Order” are all that filters into their distracted brains.
David,
Unfortunately I believe you’re right. One of the things I find most alarming is when intelligent people who were once capable of critical thinking are persuaded by such distortions. Increasingly I find myself having bizarre conversations with my well educated friends in which I’m forced to point out that Bill C-59 for example is not an undemocratic gag-order but legislation intended to protect the public for an energy companies misstatements and lies. These people should know better, but they’ve been bludgeoned by the message so long that they accept it as true.
Why is the “Environment Minister” flapping her gums about the oil and gas industry? Isn’t that the Energy Minister’s bailiwick? Oh yeah, I forgot, this is Alberta where all cabinet ministers and government are expected to cheerlead for big oil and never, ever question that what’s good for Suncor, CNRL, etc. is by extension good for Albertans. The whole Pathways thing is a giant scam and relies completely on taxpayer funding, but the CEOs behind this smoke and mirrors show rely on the captive UPC government to push for it anyway because they know it’s a lot cheaper than actually reducing emissions. The war room wouldn’t exist if it had to follow the truth in advertising guidelines being proposed. It gets tiresome after a while listening to these people gaslight us at every opportunity.
Public Servant: I’m with you on this. Pathways Alliance, the War Room, and every company publishing material on what they’re doing to address climate change should be required to comply with legislation similar to the securities laws disclosure requirements for public companies. I think the reason they’re not required to do so is because unlike investors and shareholders who have clout and can lobby for legislation to protect their investments, ordinary citizens have nothing. Our governments ignore us despite the fact that (as Peter Lougheed said) we own the resources and our tax dollars subsidize these companies to the tune of billions of dollars.
Susan: Unfortunately, we don’t own the oil in Alberta anymore. Ralph Klein saw to that, long ago. Foreign oil companies own the oil in Alberta.
Peter Lougheed’s oil royalty rates were reduced to just 1% by Ralph Klein, from where Peter Lougheed had them, which were much higher. Alberta lost $575 billion, when the Alberta PCs permanently altered Peter Peter oil royalty rate structure.
Ralph Klein also failed to ensure that oil companies in Alberta cleanup after themselves, and we are on the hook for $260 billion to deal with this.
In 2015, there was a provincial election in Alberta. Before that particular election, it was revealed that the Alberta PCs had blown $35 billion on a bitumen upgrader, that can’t even make money and operate properly. The UCP had wasted billions of dollars trying to keep it afloat.
The UCP made corporate tax cuts, under the guise of job creation. It never happened, and $10 billion, and probably more, by this point was lost from them. Instead, mass layoffs and corporations exiting Alberta were the result.
A very foolish mistake by the UCP was when they gambled $7.5 billion on a pipeline bet, and lost the bet. It’s not $1.3 billion, as certain people would claim, and the cost is far more.
Again, the UCP wasted money on grants to the petrochemical industry. One was where they threw away $408 million for a pipeline company, which didn’t utilize the money in any productive way.
In addition, there is R-Star, which the UCP are throwing away $20 billion on.
The War Room, the unproductive Steve Allen inquiry, advertising aimed at children, a billboard ad in New York City, and carbon sequestration, are other things the UCP are wasting large amounts of money on.
In the end, we have nothing much to show for the oil we have in Alberta. There is no way we can survive another collapse in oil prices.
Dwayne, thank you for this very comprehensive list of all the things conservative governments, past and present, have done to prop up the fossil fuel sector in this province. Sadly we’ve been brainwashed into believing that unless the sector is making money hand over fist we’re lost. And yet when oil prices are high and the sector is doing very well, we still believe we can’t increase royalties or corporate taxes because, well, you know, the sector will collapse.
There has to come a point in time when the sector has made so much money that it can no longer play the victim card. But as the outrage over Bill C-59 demonstrates, as far as the UCP is concerned, that time has not yet come. Unbelievable.
Susan: When the Alberta PCs changed the outstanding oil royalty rates of Peter Lougheed, and in a worse way, this is impossible to reverse. Ralph Klein was largely responsible for this. There is no way the very good oil royalty rates of Peter Lougheed can ever return. All this money is long gone.
Dwayne: very true. Just imagine how much good those additional royalty revenues, properly invested, would have generated.
Does Rebecca Schulz even understand what are her responsibilities as an Environment Minister? Does she know that she works for us, the citizens of Alberta? Does she recognize the fact that she works for a team that does not believe governments can do anything right but she still does not mind to get overpaid and fight for the rights of polluters?
I am not sure what else needs to be said about this individual. She should be ashamed and resign her position and go work for an oil company. The problem is that not even the Oil companies want to hire this embarrassment.
Carlos: Danielle Smith and the UCP are not beholden to Albertans, or to Canadians, but to their corporate overlords in the petrochemical industry. We suffer. Actually, Ralph Klein started this mess. Oil companies don’t have to cleanup after themselves, and we are stuck with the bill, all $260 billion of it. In addition, Danielle Smith and the UCP gave the oil companies $20 billion of our money to pay for their mess that they should have been cleaning up. Then there is the matter of the tailings pond leaks, which pollute the waters in northern Alberta and in the Northwest Territory. In parts of the world, they are experiencing water shortages, such as in Mexico City. Drill baby drill. It’s not just oil and gas for the UCP, but coal. The UCP doesn’t care.
Carlos, everything you’ve said can also be applied to every member of the UCP government starting with Danielle Smith and moving through the ranks with the Energy Minister, the Environment Minister and every last one of them who seem to believe that convincing Albertans that a federal statute is an “undemocratic gag-order” is a responsible thing to do.
A government that actively undermines its citizens’ faith in their political institutions and justice system doesn’t deserve to be in power.
They should not be allowed to exist. Why should we be governed by a party that fights against the very existence of a united Canada?
Susan: The UCP stoop to new lows, each and every day. They are trying to defend the indefensible. Alberta doesn’t have a spotless record, with our oil and and gas (and this will soon include coal mining). It began with Ralph Klein, because he stopped enforcing oil companies to cleanup after themselves, which Peter Lougheed did do. We have to pay $260 billion to cleanup the oil industry messes, because of this. Danielle Smith and the UCP are then throwing $20 billion of our money to deal with what the oil companies should have been dealing with themselves. On top of this, First Nations communities in Alberta are suing the UCP and the AER for being negligent with the tailings pond leaks in northern Alberta. Coincidentally, the head of the AER is now stepping down, this year. When the UCP allows open pit coal mining to proceed in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, this will be another major problem that Albertans will have to deal with. In more ways than one, we are being taken advantage of by these oil companies, and the UCP are letting them get away with it. I’ll play some more fitting music. This is a piece of live music from a concert I was at on May 29 and 30, 1992, with Procol Harum, The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and The Greenwood Singers, called Into The Flood. It was written by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid and Matt Noble.
Dwayne, once again you’ve provided a great list of examples highlighting the UCP’s incompetence. It’s ironic that if the shoe was on the other foot and it was the NDP, not the UCP, who were such incompetent managers of our money and stewards of our resources the UCP would be the first ones in line to demand they get thrown out of office. And yet when it’s their own party all they can do is applaud.
The Procol Harum piece was perfect, especially the last three lines: It’s a bloody mess, It’s a body blow. And it’s gone too far.
Yep, it’s definitely gone too far.
Brilliant as usual Susan on the Soapbox
As Robert Reich states we seem to have forgotten how to regulate and indeed some folks in Alberta just want more subsidies.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/21/america-used-to-regulate-business-now-government-subsidises-it
Dale, thanks for the link to the Reich article. It outlines the problem very well, particularly in the last paragraph where Reich says: “In truth, the three decades-long shift in power to big corporations has transformed industrial policy into a system for bribing them to do the sorts of things government once demanded they do as the price for being part of the American system.”
“Bribing them to do the sorts of things government once demanded they do” is an apt description of the RStar program which is nothing more than a bribe to entice deadbeat oil companies to clean up their wells as they are legally obligated to do under the law.
Susan: This is also interesting. What are your thoughts on this?
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/big-oil-executives-backtrack-un-climate-summit/
Dwayne, I couldn’t open the link, but the headline saying some oil execs think efforts to phase out dirty oil is a “fantasy” probably says it all.
In my time in the energy sector I’ve never heard an executive say something as blatantly ignorant, but they’d often tell me that technology (that has yet to be invented) would save the day. Not a prudent strategy.
Susan: Here is my next song pick. This from the British born, Australian singer, John Farnham, and it’s You’re The Voice. It is a live performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The song was written by Keith Reid, Andy Qunta, Maggie Ryder and Christopher Thompson. Keith Reid was a lyricist from Procol Harum. I did meet him, many years ago. Another fitting song.
Dwayne, Wow! talk about a powerful song. There’s really nothing I can add to the sentiments expressed here:
“We’re not gonna sit in silence. We’re not gonna live with fear.”
Thanks.
Susan: Here is my final song pick. This a song written by Bob Dylan, and it’s The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest. It was recorded and released in 1967. I have this in my music collection.
Dwayne, I’ve always known Dylan was a poet as much as he’s a musician and that song proves it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Susan: This song fits right in with how the UCP operate. Not a surprise. This album is the one that precedes Bob Dylan’s country album from 1969, Nashville Skyline. John Wesley Harding was also recorded in Nashville, Tennessee.
Great article Susan. I appreciate you being on top of this bunch.
‘Gas-lighting’ grabs the brain for a nano-second. It’s the plan to distract from what’s really going on. It’s not clear if it’s because people are just too busy trying to make a living or shaken by all the changes underway or just falling prey to the nostalgia they imagine they see in the rear-view mirror? It’s difficult to gain ‘common-sense’ when you don’t have actual information, but I believe that is the plan to drive opinion through outraged emotion. This is certainly the strategy by the PeePee Party federally and the Smith party.
WordPress is giving me a hard time.
Kathleen
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Kathleen: I think your use of the word “gas-lighting” is bang on. It’s a pretty sorry indictment of the UCP. We deserve better.
This whole process from Shutz et al. is really merely a thin disguise for climate disaster denial. The rhetoric is becoming increasingly obscured for the “public” in the same way that tobacco, then Coal/O&G, have been doing since the early 1970’s. Off to the dealership for a new pickmeup that will never see any loads in the box!!!!
dbtazzer Agreed. It seems to me that the UCP is so driven by ideology–in this case (1) protect the oil industry at all costs and (2) trash everything the Feds do–that it was compelled (almost in a knee-jerk way) to denounce Bill C-59. That’s not governing.
How perfectly on-brand for our sham of a provincial government to protest a bill that proposes that corporate statements to the public be truthful and supported by provable facts. Of course they oppose it because if they allow our society access to truthful information the UCP would be done in a heartbeat. Their whole gig is based on fear, anger and division. Truth, honesty and ethics are anathema to them and must be suppressed or, if possible, eliminated entirely. For Rebecca Schulz to describe a bill requiring companies to present truthful information to the public as a ‘gag-order’ is, in my opinion, the worst form of projection that there is, straight out of the DT and Republican handbook. Whether she actually believes the garbage that she spouted last week or if she is simply saying what she needs to to protect her cushy job and her pension is irrelevant. Her words are out there now for people to react to how they will and that is a big part of the problem with present-day politics. Anyone can say anything they want and someone else will believe it and spread it around whether it is based in reality or not. The complete absence of character and moral fiber in those who practice this type of politics is as appalling as it is dangerous.
Susan, it seems to me that this topic landed right in your wheelhouse and you knocked it out of the park. Well done and thank you!
Here is a short story to help those UCP members that need Mom and Pop help to understand their convoluted lives.
The F…. Trudeau’s government writes a law to force companies to stop lying to its citizens in Alberta. The so called provincial minister of the environment decides that is not a good law because just like her, the companies have the right to bullshit us.
Carlos: Look at what happened to Shannon Phillips. Very bad, and very concerning.
Thanks Guy: I agree with your take on Smith’s government and how it will stop at nothing to corrupt the public’s understanding of the laws the Feds are proposing. You’ll note that despite Smith/Schultz’s inflammatory language (surely, there’s nothing more heinous than an “undemocratic gag-order”) not one oil company has joined in their denunciation of this bill.
Why? because their investors and shareholders and lenders expect them to tell the truth, not just because the securities laws require it, but because they want to protect their investment. If they insist the companies tell the truth about their earnings, their operations, and their projections for the future, then why can’t the public expect the truth when they talk about climate change?
Nothing in this scenario is unexpected, once you understand where the UCP is coming from.
I’m currently reading the Trevor Harrison & Ricardo Acuña-edited book, ‘Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney’s Legacy and Alberta’s Right’, from my local public library. It is a collection of essays by multiple authors that touch on the ideological underpinnings of UCP governance.
I do have a few quibbles about the book. It has a few typos and grammatical errors that were not caught by the copy editors, and it uses the APA referencing style to cite its sources, which is distracting to the reader. I was also clearly written before the most recent provincial election but after the political defenestration of Jason Kenney and Daniellezebub’s selection as UCP Leader and Premier, so it doesn’t discuss developments since the UCP’s narrow election win in May 2023.
But I still feel it’s a worthwhile read if you want to really understand where Alberta’s current government comes from.
Tried it but the overwhelming amount of Bee Sss, outright lies, out of context remarks, and mistrust I read or hear almost everyday required me to just leave it alone.
Jerrymacgp: thanks for this suggestion, I’ll check it out.
I’m curious, did the authors predict just how far Smith would go to support corporations? Her latest musings on how she’s going to “rejuvenate” her approach to the Heritage Trust Fund indicate she’s considering a different investment “strategy” one where she would use the fund to de-risk projects that are so risky they can’t get financing. .In other words, Alberta taxpayers, not the banks or investors, would shoulder the risk of these companies going belly up.
Yet another example of Noam Chomsky’s famous quote: privatize the profits, socialize the costs.
The focus of the essays that make up the book is more on Kenney, the UCP as a whole, and the policy trajectory of Conservatism in Alberta. Daniellezebub is less prominent, mainly because of timing, as the book was written after she won the UCP leadership but before the most recent election. But I’m still reading it — it’s not a quick read.
But chapters 7, 8 & 11 go into their economic policies in depth, & Chomsky’s quote neatly encapsulates their vision of the Alberta economy.
Thanks Jerry. The more we see of these governments, the more obvious it is that Chomsky was right.
Meanwhile, in the real world, we see what is happening.
https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/alberta-first-nation-sues-province-energy-regulator-kearl-mine
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Court-Allows-New-Mexico-Oil-Pollution-Lawsuit-to-Move-Ahead.html
Just like we had with Tobacco, they will deny and deny until one day people finally realize that this war will have to be over soon. In the meantime we pollute more and more and there will be awful consequences and some lawyers will have permanent work.
Just like they always do, they will try to show that the First Nations have no idea what they are talking about. Toxic water, deformed fish and elevated cancer rates is just the new normal. After all what is the Health Care System for?
It is a tough world out there, no doubts about it.
The war room is over. 30 million dollars a year of absolutely nothing other than jokes.
https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/06/the-alberta-energy-war-room-is-no-more-except-for-the-foips-that-are-bound-to-follow-its-demise/
Carlos, slowly but surely the feds are clipping the UCP’s wings. I note that Brian Jean and others continue to allege the feds are making it illegal for the War Room and the energy companies to “promote” the industry. What they don’t acknowledge is the difference between fact-based “promotion” and outright “puffery.” (also known as “lies”).
It reminds me of one of the first cases I learned in law school, the Carbolic Smoke Ball case (1893), where the courts ruled that a company promoting the carbolic smoke ball as a cure for influenza, sore throat and all sorts of ailments was liable if the promised cure failed to materialize. That decision was rendered in 1893. And guess what, the law prohibiting puffery is still in effect 131 years later.
BTW, the fact the War Room is going to be absorbed into Intergovernmental Relations means Smith’s band of bureaucrats just got bigger. For a party that prides itself on small government, these guys are way out of control.
Shannon Phillips, the best environment minister in Alberta’s history and perhaps one of the best in Canada, is gone. She rightly decided that enough is enough.
As a man I feel ashamed that this is still happening in Alberta in 2024.
Shannon thank you for your service to this province that does not deserve you and thank you for the marvelous renewable energy program you and your team created in this province. Until Danielle Smith decided to stop it for reasons only her Neanderthal brain can understand, it was the most successful program in Canada.
I wish you the best.
To those that refused to charge the police officers who clearly spied on you, shame on them and shame on the UCP government that treats you worse than a convoy criminal.
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2024/06/12/Backlash-Against-Women-Politics-Alberta-MLA-Shannon-Phillips/
Carlos: I agree. This is a devastating loss of a brilliant politician. It’s also a damning indictment of our prosecutorial system which declined to prosecute the police officers involved despite ASIRT’s recommendation that prosecution would be appropriate.
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