Big Oil gambled and lost in federal election – Greenpeace Canada
Canada’s oil lobby has traditionally avoided overtly partisan politics in favour of backroom deal-making. Yet as pressure grew in recent years for a ‘net-zero’, fossil fuel-free economy by mid-century – the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate now embedded in the electoral platforms of the Liberals, NDP and Greens – the industry took a much more aggressively partisan line.
It started with a secret meeting in April, where oil CEOs and lobbyists met with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and his campaign team to strategize on how to beat the Liberals. The leaked agenda included a session on using “strategic litigation” to silence environmental groups. It also featured a panel where Scheer’s campaign manager Hamish Marshall, best known for helping far-right firebrand Ezra Levant establish the Ethical Oil and Rebel News websites, talked about how to use friendly interest groups that operate independently of the party to “rally the base.”