Canada’s top energy executives are urging the federal government to declare a “Canadian energy crisis” and overhaul regulations to ensure major infrastructure projects receive approval within six months of application.
In an open letter addressed to the leaders of the top federal political parties on Tuesday, the CEOs of Canada’s largest petroleum producers and pipeline companies outlined their demands to accelerate energy development.
These include scrapping the planned emissions cap, repealing the carbon levy on major industrial emitters, and lifting regulatory barriers that have slowed the sector.
“By declaring a Canadian energy crisis and key projects in the ‘national interest,’ the federal government will be able to use all its available emergency powers to ensure that the dramatic regulatory restructuring required to expand the oil and natural gas sector is rapidly achieved,” reads the letter.
The energy leaders said that Canada is at a turning point in its history and national interest. As public support grows for the energy sector and its infrastructure, the group said Canada can defend its sovereignty and become a key player in determining the world’s future.
The Liberals and various provincial leaders have recently emphasized a more pro-energy approach amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Fourteen heads of Canada’s largest energy companies, including Cenovus, Suncor, Enbridge, and TC Energy, signed the letter addressed to Mark Carney, Yves-François Blanchet, Pierre Poilievre, and Jagmeet Singh.
While the business leaders said that a stronger energy sector would improve Canadians’ living standards, they added it could address the world’s energy poverty emergency.
The letter cited that over four billion people, more than half the world’s population, currently live below modern standards of living and require reliable energy for basic needs. Additionally, 8.3 million people die annually due to inadequate access to heating and cooling and indoor air pollution from burning dirty energy like animal dung.
“Canada has the resources to responsibly meet this demand as one of the top five global oil producers and one of only two democratic oil producers in the top ten,” reads the letter.
Canada could also help reduce global carbon emissions, according to the letter’s authors. This could be done by supplying more clean Canadian energy to replace emissions-intensive coal-fired plants supplying oil and gas throughout Asia.
“The federal government has an opportunity to reset its policies and regulatory frameworks to support oil and natural gas investment and remove the barriers we have imposed on ourselves over time,” reads the letter. “For the oil and natural gas sector to expand and energy infrastructure to be built, Canada’s federal political leaders can create an environment that will.”
The letter made five immediate requests of Canada’s federal political leaders. Some consist of simplifying regulation by overhauling the Impact Assessment Act, scrapping the Liberals’ emissions cap, and discarding the industrial carbon tax to attract investment.
Despite Carney claiming to cancel the consumer portion of the carbon tax, a federal carbon pricing law remains on the books.
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Melissa Lantsman told True North that the Liberals have done everything in their power to attack Canada’s world-class energy sector.
She told True North that the Conservatives have opposed the Liberals’ “radical agenda” since it was introduced. Lantsman said the Conservatives will repeal Bill C-69, the “No More Pipelines Act,” and replace it with a law to approve projects within a year of application. She also said the party would repeal the energy cap and axe the carbon tax, including the industrial component.
“Only common Sense Conservatives will support our energy sector, pipelines, LNG plants, mines, mills, and lowering the cost of work and making things in Canada to unleash the power of our economy, bring home powerful paycheques, and put Canada First,” she said.
A recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer showed that the emissions cap would result in 54,400 jobs lost and a $20.5 billion decrease in Canada’s GDP in 2032.
The energy leaders said they remain willing to work with the federal government to ensure energy projects progress.
Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said that Alberta backs the call “100%.” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her energy minister joined the effort.
“We are in a period of great economic uncertainty,” said Schulz. “We must act now.”
Alberta previously fought the emissions cap by invoking the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act.
True North reached out to the other three federal leaders addressed in the letter but received no reply.
