- Whereas Canadians are struggling in an unprecedented cost of living crisis;
- Whereas this legislation aims to kill 170,000 direct Canadian jobs, will displace 450,000 direct and indirect jobs, and cause major disruptions to 2.7 million jobs across all provinces in the energy, manufacturing, construction, transportation, and agriculture sectors;
- Whereas in Canada, the oil and gas sector is the top private sector in clean tech at 75% overall – more than all other sectors, combined, and in the development and commercialization of renewable and alternative energy and other fuels of the future;
- Whereas the energy sector provides 10% of Canada’s GDP, and pays over $26 billion in taxes to all levels of government every year, including $48 billion in 2022;
- Whereas Natural Resource businesses, including oil and gas, are the most traded stocks and form the foundation of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and this legislation will put Canadians’ financial portfolios in jeopardy potentially risking millions of invested dollars;
- Whereas Canada’s energy self-sufficiency and security is increasingly threatened by the government’s anti-energy agenda to expedite and recklessly phase out the oil and gas sectors with government-imposed mandates, penalties, policies, bans, and added costs, with no concrete roadmap on how to replace them;
- Whereas global oil and gas demand continues to increase, and we believe the last barrels of oil and cubic metre of natural gas used in the world should come from Canada;
- Whereas government-created uncertainty has already driven billions of investment, technology, and hundreds of thousands of jobs out of Canada and has already primarily and disproportionately hurt remote, rural, Indigenous and energy- and resource-based communities, provinces and regions;
- Whereas the legislation will disproportionately impact blue collar and lower-income workers, which includes many Indigenous Canadians and visible minorities, who will face higher job disruptions and have more challenges finding new opportunities;
- Whereas the legislation doesn’t account for what and how many jobs will replace the ones their agenda will kill – or how the economic, fiscal, and technological contributions of the energy sector will be replaced in Canada, as well as affordable and accessible energy for all communities and regions, in cities and rural areas alike;
We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call on the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada to cancel its divisive, targeted, anti-energy, anti-private sector and top down “Just Transition” central planning agenda that is neither just, fair nor equitable, and instead accelerate Canadian energy projects, infrastructure, technology, and exports, and greenlight green projects, by reducing duplicative red tape, costs, and permitting timelines, and support private-sector-led energy transformation instead of a government-forced transition to energy scarcity and poverty, and bring home Canadian energy jobs, technology, and investment, which benefits every Canadian in every city, community, and region.