By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Two high-profile Canadian oil-and-gas lobby groups have removed material from their websites and social-media platforms because of a new law that they claim is trying to silence their members in touting their progress fighting climate change.
This marks yet another row between Canada's Liberal government, which has moved aggressively to try and reduce carbon emissions and branded critics of such measures as climate-change deniers, and the country's western provinces, where energy and mining are the key drivers of economic growth. The province of Alberta, home to the oil sands, said it could go to court to have the fresh legislative changes overturned.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Thursday it's taking this step until Canada's antitrust watchdog provides further guidance on last-minute changes to legislation that revamp competition laws. The changes explicitly prohibit businesses from making false environmental claims, or so-called greenwashing, and were part of a bigger piece of legislation that dealt with budgetary matters.
The effect "is to silence the energy industry and those that support it in an effort to clear the field of debate and to promote the voices of those most opposed to Canada's energy industry," said Lisa Baiton, head of the petroleum group. "Businesses across Canada are being put at significant risk for communicating their efforts to reduce their impact on the environment."
Another advocacy group for the energy sector, Pathways Alliance, said the new legislation creates "significant uncertainty" for companies that want to communicate what they are doing to mitigate the impact of climate change. It, too, has removed content from its website and other public communications, adding this "is not related to our belief in the accuracy of our environmental communications."
Last year, the Competition Bureau said it was investigating a complaint from environmental groups, among them Greenpeace, that Pathways Alliance misled the public through an advertising campaign. The alliance is a consortium of major oil sands producers.
A spokeswoman for the bureau declined comment on whether it would provide guidance to the energy groups on enforcement. Instead, the spokeswoman referred to a letter senior antitrust officials sent to the senate last month, in which they said the amendments "will strengthen our ability to police deceptive greenwashing claims."
At a news conference in Atlantic Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the law is about ensuring that "people are debating and discussing and basing their world view on things that are anchored in truth and reality."
The new legislation was proclaimed into law on Wednesday, with amendments beefing up penalties against greenwashing adopted last month.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the measures are meant to "intimidate boards and shareholders, silence debate, and amplify the voices of those who oppose" the energy sector. She said Alberta is considering lawsuits to protect free-speech rights.
Bronwyn Eyre, the attorney general for the province of Saskatchewan, a resource-rich province, has said the amendments would enable environmental groups "to complaint swarm" and bring applications before the country's administrative antitrust tribunal, which could levy fines against energy groups of up to 15 million Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of about $11 million.
The new rules, Eyre said, put the onus on Canadian energy companies, as opposed to the complainant, to prove their environmental claim is based on adequate and proper substantiation," per the law.
One law firm in Calgary, Alberta -- or the financial nerve center for the country's energy sector -- advised clients to be cautious of what it says regarding the environment.
"An environmental representation can be true and still contravene" the law, according to a brief prepared by lawyers at BD&G that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The energy sector in Canada accounts for about 7% of Canada's nominal gross domestic product.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-20-24 1804ET
