The Green Party of Canada strongly denounces the Canada\u2013Alberta Memorandum of Understanding, signed today, which commits the federal government to enabling privately financed pipelines carrying Alberta \u2018bitumen\u2019 for export to Asian markets, while suspending the planned federal oil and gas emissions cap and undermining the protections of the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Green Party warns that the MOU represents a direct threat to Indigenous rights, to Canada\u2019s climate commitments, and to the ecological safety of one of the most sensitive marine regions on Earth. Bitumen is a solid that does not flow without toxic diluents. Moving solid bitumen by rail can be done safely, but diluted bitumen in a pipeline poses severe environmental risks, especially when the plan leads to tanker export through the north coast. A spill of diluted bitumen in these waters would be irreversible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding to these concerns, the agreement also commits billions of dollars toward developing a nuclear power sector in Alberta, without any consultation with Alberta\u2019s First Nations regarding nuclear waste, siting risks, or long-term environmental impacts. The federal government has a constitutional and moral obligation to engage Indigenous Nations before advancing high-risk projects of this scale. Pushing ahead without consent represents yet another failure to uphold Indigenous rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greens also warn that the MOU is based on carbon capture technologies that are heavily hyped but unproven, and relies on taxpayers to finance risky experiments while polluters continue to profit. Carbon capture is a techno-fantasy that has repeatedly failed to deliver results, yet the MOU depends on it as its central climate strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Green Party warns that the MOU lays the groundwork for the dismantling of Canada\u2019s climate policy framework. Regulations developed over years, while imperfect, were meaningful steps toward holding major polluters accountable. Canada\u2019s climate laws, including the Net-Zero Accountability Act, require the federal government to release a detailed plan for achieving its 2035 emissions target by February 2026. The MOU directly undermines the credibility and feasibility of that plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis government is stripping away the very tools we use to hold big polluters accountable.\u201d Said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada. \u201cThis sets the stage for the complete abandonment of Canada’s climate policy, and is nothing short of catastrophic for climate action. We cannot surrender to the fossil fuel industry while emissions keep rising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Party stresses that the federal government\u2019s promise of Net-Zero by 2050 directly contradicts Canada\u2019s legally binding Paris 2030 targets, commitments the Prime Minister assured just last week in the House of Commons<\/a>. Extending responsibility into 2050 while weakening near-term climate policy is incompatible with the Paris Agreement and inconsistent with Canada\u2019s own climate accountability laws. The science is clear that emissions must fall steeply this decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May pointed out that the MOU explicitly attaches the pipeline\u2019s approval to a sweeping exemption: suspension of the federal oil and gas emissions cap and clean electricity regulations in Alberta, in exchange for a carbon capture scheme under the Pathways Alliance. \u201cThey are betting Canada\u2019s climate future on carbon capture, a technology that simply does not work. Pathways cannot and will not guarantee carbon neutrality. This MOU expects Canadians to believe that building new massive fossil fuel infrastructure, backed by temporary deregulation and vague promises, is compatible with achieving net zero by 2050. That is climate fantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Green Party is deeply concerned by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith\u2019s claim that the MOU does not provide a veto for British Columbia or Indigenous Nations. This position contradicts section 35 of the Constitution and Canada\u2019s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Coastal First Nations have been clear that they will never accept diluted bitumen tanker traffic through their territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis agreement is a profound betrayal of British Columbians, of Indigenous Peoples including the Haida Nation, and of anyone who expects honesty and responsibility from the federal government,\u201d continued May. \u201cIt invites diluted bitumen tankers into waters that Canada promised to protect and seeks to revive a project that has no business case, no proponent, and no public support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Energy analysts have already concluded that a new export pipeline for Alberta heavy oil is unnecessary<\/a> and unattractive to investors<\/a>. Pursuing it diverts attention from the investments Canadians urgently need in clean electricity generation, transmission, and storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May called on the federal government to immediately withdraw any commitment that weakens the north coast tanker ban, advances new diluted bitumen export routes, or suspends essential climate regulations. \u201cCanada needs real climate action, not more fossil fuel expansion. And we must respect Indigenous rights, not push them aside. This MOU cannot be allowed to lead to a project that would put communities and the environment in serious danger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Green Party affirms that fossil fuels cannot power Canada\u2019s future, and urges the Prime Minister to govern for all Canadians, in every province, rather than advancing policies that favour the fossil fuel industry at the expense of climate action, constitutional rights, and public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -30-<\/p>\n\n\n\n