Carney Cannot Have It Both Ways On Emissions Cap, 'No More Pipelines' Bill C-69 Support

'Every second that Carney further clings to this policy, he contradicts his supposed goal of streamlining new projects and building an energy corridor.'

By Geoff Russ, Special to the National Citizens Coalition and the Energy Affordability Now campaign

This week, NCC president Peter Coleman pointed out something important: the longer Mark Carney is exposed to the media, the more their questions continue to rankle and irritate the man.

Whether it be questions about Liberal MPs encouraging voters to take out bounties on his political rivals, or how exactly he plans to deal with Donald Trump’s tariffs, his answers continue to be unclear, troubling, and uninspiring.

There was an exception to this, however. When asked if he would repeal Bill C-69, the “No New Pipelines Bill,” he responded with a flat, but ringing “no.”

Carney’s pledges on energy have been reluctant and reactive at the best of times. On Canada’s natural resources and affordability, two deeply linked areas of policy, Carney has shown himself to be more moved by public opinion rather than personal conviction.

Repealing the consumer portion of the carbon tax was a welcome relief, but those who had spent years speaking out against the unfair and impoverishing penalty deserve the applause. It was public outcry in the wake of an affordability crisis that forced the Liberals to wave the white flag on a policy they had championed as an existential good for Canada.

If Canadians are better off financially after making the consumer carbon tax extinct, then the country is in a better place, full stop. Energy is one of the main resources that can be used as a tool to make everyday life more fulfilling, but Carney and his Liberals continue to resist the needed, deeper changes.

So long as the emissions cap and Bill C-69 remain in place, as Carney has pledged they will, they are knowingly taking money off the table for working and middle-class people.

Just as it took a critical mass of public opinion to strong-arm this government into removing the consumer carbon tax, the same currents must be turned on the rest of their disastrous legislation.

Canada is a country of automobiles, used for getting to and from work, picking up your kids, and taking loved ones on weekend trips. The disappearance of the consumer carbon tax cut the price of gas by as much as 15 cents per litre across the provinces, providing immediate relief.

Why not take that further? If getting rid of a punitive tax immediately eased pressure on wallets, the logical next steps are to increase the supply and affordability of oil and gas.

Carney has tried to justify retaining Bill C-69 despite across-the-board criticism from industry voices and political leaders who have correctly called it the “No Pipelines Act.” Even after Carney removed the mandate for double federal-provincial review on major projects, the legislation, which a judge has found to be unconstitutional, still forces rigorous undue assessments on the building of new infrastructure.

Every second that Carney further clings to this policy, he contradicts his supposed goal of streamlining new projects and building an energy corridor.

Equally contradictory to Carney's promise to transform Canada into an energy superpower is the retention of the emissions cap. Reports have been produced on a rolling basis from well-regarded and trusted voices like Deloitte and the Conference Board of Canada, all warning of the economic consequences of the cap.

They estimate tens of thousands in job losses could be incurred, not to mention GDP reduced by hundreds of billions of dollars and falling government revenues, all while Canada is navigating President Trump’s tariff war.

Both this cap and Bill C-69 will make it that much harder to begin, let alone complete, another project like the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX), which required a 12-year odyssey to complete due to regulations, delays, and cost overruns.

Once TMX finally began shipping oil, gas prices in Metro Vancouver noticeably fell. It once again demonstrated the eternal law of supply and demand, and that constraining the amount of energy can only make life needlessly harder for families.

After 10 years of increasing costs and arbitrary Liberal roadblocks to shared prosperity and 'the good life,' Canadians have a right to demand a government that ceases to take money out of their pockets.

There is a three-pronged approach to this when it comes to energy. The first was removing the consumer carbon tax, accomplished in spite of the Liberals, not because of them.

Next comes repealing both Bill C-69 and the emissions cap, both of which Carney has committed to keeping. There was already little reason to believe that the Liberals would ever start working for Canadians again, even with a new prime minister, and this serves as grim confirmation of just that.

Geoff Russ is a policy manager in the resource sector and contributor to several national publications across Canada, the United States, and Australia. Read his work in the National Post, the Spectator Australia, and Modern Age.

There's no solving for Canada's cost of living crisis -- or tariff crisis -- without growing Canada's resource economy, and restrictions on our energy sector have proven themselves to be just another tax on working families. Help us advocate on your behalf, and on behalf of our Great Canadian energy producers and innovators.

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