Oil, gas firms step up lobbying effort aimed at Tory government

Tim Naumetz, August 24, 2008, The Canadian Press -- The Canadian corporate giants dominating Alberta oil sands extraction and refining lobbied the federal government intensively this summer, federal records show.

The campaign began shortly after Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion unveiled his plan for $15-billion worth of new taxes on carbon emissions and continued through July.

Oil and gas lobbyists held several meetings with Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, one meeting with Environment Minister John Baird, and a string of meetings with top government officials including aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Liberal tax plan, feared in Western Canada, was likely discussed, an industry source said.

But the lobbying also reflected industry concern over the Conservative government's plan to use the Criminal Code, under the authority of environmental protection law, to enforce its own greenhouse gas reduction plan, the source added.

Records show the companies that engaged in the lobbying were Shell Canada, Petro-Canada, Suncor, Imperial Oil, Chevron Canada, Encana Corp., ConocoPhillips and Nexen Inc.

Three major industry organizations – the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, another group representing small producers and explorers, and a third representing firms that market and distribute petroleum products – also took part in the campaign.

During the same period, lobbyists for 14 other associations and companies with a stake in the Liberal plan, as well as the regulatory regime the Conservatives are planning, also met with ministers, bureaucrats and political assistants.

Among them were the Coal Association of Canada, the Canadian Electricity Association, Hydro-Quebec, Ontario Power Corp., Nova Scotia Power, the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Nuclear Association.

The oil sands companies held a total of 36 meetings with ministers and government officials. Four of the meetings reported by Chevron Canada appeared to involve offshore oil development in the Atlantic.
A major technology supply firm for the oil sands, Amec Americas, also reported one lobbying session.

Only seven environmental groups and associations reported lobbying activity, primarily with ministerial assistants and senior bureaucrats.

Officials speaking on behalf of several of the oil companies and petroleum organizations declined to disclose details of the talks.
One even objected to use of the word “lobbying” to describe the meetings.

The public reports require only one-word descriptions of the issues being discussed. Most of the July reports listed both energy and environment as the topics.

Pierre Alvarez, president of the oil and gas producers association, said the meeting his organization reported with Prentice and Lunn was a general overview of the industry, including supply forecasts, that took place in the company of the U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins.

A spokeswoman for Suncor Energy Ltd., one of the oldest and largest participants in the oil sands, said she was not given specific details to release by company officials.

“When we're speaking with the government, we're speaking about everything from environmental issue that affect our business to energy supply within Canada and abroad, as well as capital and jobs and economic impact,” said Shawn Davis, the media relations officer for Suncor.

“When you're asking did we speak about the oil sands, I think yes, we would definitely have been speaking about the oil sands and our business,” she said.

A spokesman for EnCana Corp., another oil sands company with extensive other energy interests, also was unable to disclose details.

“These kinds of meetings and exchanges happen all the time,” said media director Alan Boras.

All registered consultant lobbyists, as well as companies and organizations that use in-house lobbyists to put their case to the federal government, must file monthly reports of meetings with designated public office holders. July was the first month the new monitoring regime introduced by the Conservative government took effect.

A spokesman for Mr. Baird, who met a lobbyist with only one of the firms, Shell Canada, confirmed there was discussion of proposed regulations to enforce greenhouse gas emission limits under the Conservatives' so-called Turning the Corner plan.

“The agenda included domestic and international climate change policy, low-carbon fuels and biofuels,” Chris Day, Mr. Baird's press secretary, said in an e-mail.

He added: “The minister took their views into consideration. The government is proceeding with its Turning the Corner plan.”

The Tory plan has been criticized by environmentalists and the opposition parties, in part because its greenhouse gas reduction targets are far short of the 1997 Kyoto Accord. As well, critics say the industry will be able to avoid reductions by contributing to a so- called Green Technology Fund.

But industry resistance is currently focused on the fact that regulations limiting the emission of greenhouse gases will be enforced through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act under the federal government's criminal-law power — a necessity because the environment and natural resources are under constitutional jurisdiction of the provinces.

The C.D. Howe Institute, a conservative research and opinion group, published a legal analysis last week by constitutional expert Peter Hogg, an Osgoode Hall law professor in Toronto, predicting the Supreme Court of Canada would likely uphold the regulations.

The previous Liberal government added six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, to a list of toxic substances in the Environmental Protection Act, giving the federal government a measure with which to enforce a national scheme to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

But the industry is concerned about using criminal sanctions to enforce the complicated system of measuring and attributing emissions.

The standoff is reminiscent of the battle that took place between the Liberal government in the 1990s and Harper's former party, Reform, over the use of Criminal Code sanctions in the Firearms Act to enforce requirements of the national firearms registry.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said contacts in the oil and gas industry have expressed concern about the cost of simply meeting the measurement and paperwork burden of the regulations. She reiterated the Green contention that the Tory plan will not significantly reduce greenhouse gases.

Despite the limited amount of information available in the lobbying files, NDP MP Pat Martin says the new reporting law is worthwhile because it reveals the extent of contacts between the oil industry and government on an issue that will likely be central in the next election.

“That's not lobbying, that's a blitzkrieg,” Mr. Martin said. “It's easy to see who's got the ear of this government.”