Oil & Gas Advocates Try to Divide Canadians with Alberta Separatism: We’re Their Obstacle.

Oil and gas advocates are already trying to fuel separatist sentiments in Alberta, and no amount of appeasement will satisfy them because this isn’t a coincidence. They’re dividing Canadians in a time of multiple crises in the name of oil and gas expansion that will benefit no one economically – not even Albertans.

Together, we’re their biggest obstacle. It’s important you talk with people in communities that depend on oil and gas for their livelihoods about how a renewable energy future can offer a unified way forward, as wrote about a while back. 

Oil and gas expansion can never bring us together. Global demand for oil and gas is set to decline in the near future with enough projects already existing or planned to meet that demand, and volatility of oil and gas prices will likely be higher than ever with the U.S.’s uncertain foreign policy. Globally oil and gas corporate exploration budgets are shrinking and we need to rapidly prioritise renewable growth. A hypothetically separated Alberta would be in a particularly terrible position given the coming global decline in demand for oil and gas. Oil and gas corporations can only maintain their dominance by creating situations of chaos that stall progress towards renewables.

But for now I want to address a few pieces of misinformation you might be hearing about us at Sierra Club Canada. I have to admit it’s actually flattering when climate deniers feel the need to personally attack us – it means we must be having a significant impact for good. So let’s dig in and set the record straight.

One piece of misinformation we saw climate deniers spreading about Sierra Club Canada recently was a claim that we are an American organization. This is false, Sierra Club Canada was incorporated in Ontario in 1971 and while there is a U.S. Sierra Club, which is much older and larger than Sierra Club Canada, it’s a separate organization. We both have separate boards, management, financial structures, and staff. While we do meet from time to time to discuss cross border issues when we meet it’s as equals. 

In fact when the U.S. Club came to meet with us in Montréal, in February, we expressed to them the need to defend Canada’s sovereignty from U.S. aggression. They listened and the U.S. Sierra Club has since directly stood up for Canada in that respect, calling out the U.S. Administration’s aggression as wrong. The U.S. Sierra Club has had a long history of successfully fighting back against oil and gas corporations in the U.S. and in helping to build up renewable energy there. Elon Musk himself has even attacked the U.S. Sierra Club directly. So it’s perhaps no wonder we consider the U.S. Sierra Club to be allies, friends, and equals.

The same is true of Sierra Club B.C. by the way, they are separate from both Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club U.S. – making for three independent Sierra Clubs.

But the misinformation got more ridiculous from there. Another false claim we saw was that our Executive Director, Gretchen Fitzgerald was from Colorado – again the argument being that this would make us an American organization. There is a different Gretchen Fitzgerald who apparently does live in Colorado, but our Gretchen Fitzgerald is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador (as am I coincidentally). I suppose by the same logic that would make us a Newfoundland and Labrador organization interfering with central Canadian affairs – a thought that, as a Newfoundlander myself, did make me chuckle.

Finally, another false claim was that we have amassed sums of hundreds of millions of dollars that we use to influence public opinion (apparently my cheque got lost in the mail). As Head of Communications I can tell you our budget lines for communications work are in the thousands of dollars not millions, let alone hundreds of millions. Further we strive always to put the truth of matters first even if that means making more nuanced arguments for the environment, arguments that might be harder to get across to people, because to undermine the truth is to undermine the common dialog we all share. That’s fundamentally what makes us different from oil and gas advocates – for us the truth still matters.

Oil and gas corporations really do have hundreds of millions of dollars, they really do use those funds to manipulate public opinion in Canada through false information – sowing division among Canadians, and they really do have strong connections to the U.S Administration. The Alberta Government wasted 7 million taxpayer dollars alone fighting the emissions cap, a policy that won’t even affect oil and gas production, on behalf of oil and gas corporations (and got nowhere in trying to convince the public with that campaign – even in Alberta).

If Sierra Club Canada’s work can spark such a response from oil and gas advocates with vastly more resources, it’s a powerful reminder that truth, persistence, and community can not only stand up to money and misinformation – but can win. Food for thought.

We know there’s more misinformation to come and we’re organizing for real solutions to the crises we face, so stay tuned and spread the word!

By Conor Curtis, Head of Communications, Sierra Club Canada