Jim Warren is a recovering academic as retired adjunct professor and lecturer in environmental sociology at the University of Regina.
Rail blockades several years ago. Photo by The Canadian Press.
And so it begins. Environmentalists and Indigenous groups have launched the first protests and legal actions threatening conventional energy production since Mark Carney became prime minister.
A few small protests have been held in Ontario and Quebec and a lawsuit was filed by nine First Nations this summer in response to Bill C-5 (the Building Canada Act). And environmentalists have filed suit for an injunction to reverse the Government of Saskatchewan’s decision to operate its coal-fired electrical power stations beyond the federal government’s 2030 shutdown deadline.
So far the magnitude of the 2025 protests and lawsuit filings pales in comparison with the anti-Alberta energy campaign waged by eco-activists form approximately 2008 until 2021. That effort was international in scope, well organized, well financed and well executed. It did considerable damage to the fortunes of Canada’s oil gas and pipeline sectors; especially after the election of the Justin Trudeau Liberals in 2015.
But it’s still early days when it comes to anticipating life under the Carney Liberals.
It is quite possible what we have seen this summer are merely the first salvos in what could well turn out to be a significant threat to the prospects for oil production new oil export pipelines and the reprieve for coal-fired electricity in Saskatchewan.
One cause for alarm is $206 million over five years the Carney government has budgeted for the Climate Action Awareness Fund (CAAF). The funds will be used to combat the declining urgency among Canadians for combating climate change. The initial tranche of $14.4 million issued for this year will be available to help young Canadians address climate change.
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CAAF is part of the Carney Liberals’ reaction to polls indicating that Canadians care more about kitchen table issues than taxing carbon and cancelling pipelines.
A national poll taken this year asked Canadians which public issues they see as most important. Respondents placed climate change in eighth pace well behind issues like the cost of living and the lack of affordable housing. A similar poll taken back in 2019 showed 30% of Canadians identified climate change as their “most pressing” concern. This year a mere 4% put climate concerns at the top of the list.
Furthermore, polls taken this past January showed that around 70% of Canadians favoured building pipelines from the prairies to both the east and west coasts.
A paper by energy industry analyst Ron Wallace says Carney appears “to have understood this shift in opinion when in March 2025 he signed a prime ministerial directive that effectively set the consumer fuel charge to zero.”
The mandate for CAAF is disturbingly similar to the programs used by the Justin Trudeau government to funnel money to environmental groups opposed to oil production and new pipelines. According to Alberta’s 2021 Allan report, during the Trudeau government’s first four years in office Ottawa, the government of Quebec and liberal-friendly municipal governments awarded $145 million in grants to anti-oil eco-warriors.
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Groups which benefitted from Liberal largesse included Equiterre, a Quebec-based group founded by Steven Guilbealt, the Liberal’s green Jesus. They obtained a total of $12.6 million in federal, provincial and municipal grants between 2015 and 2019. The World Wildlife Fund Canada, former employer of Gerald Butts (Justin Trudeau’s former chief of staff), was awarded $10.6 million over the same period.
We are confronted by a confounding irony. The Carney government has been teasing supporters of new oil pipelines with the possibility that Bill C-5 will provide a pathway for getting prairie oil to one or more coasts. At the same time our Liberal government will been funding the promotional efforts of climate alarmists, many of whom would like to kill the oil industry.
Making matters worse, a censorship law enacted by the Trudeau government has not been eliminated by the Carney Liberals. This means that oil and gas industry players could find it difficult to counter the claims of their government-subsidized opponents.
The prime minister is apparently unwilling to clearly indicate which side he’s on. Is he serious about improving Canada’s economic prospects, or is he intent on maintaining his international image as a virtuous climate warrior?
Media pundits labeled Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin “Mr. Dithers,” for being indecisive. Mark Carney has an equally good claim to the title.
There is a danger the situation is about to become even worse.
One of the demands coming out of the Assembly of First Nations Annual meeting held in Winnipeg September 3-4 was for $800 million in government funding over two years in support of First Nations reviews of projects of national interests seeking approval under the auspices of Bill C-5.
According to a CTV News report on the annual meeting, “First Nations leaders warned government those projects won’t move forward without First Nations at the table.”
The CTV reported Kyra Wilson, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Assembly of Chiefs, told the National Chiefs “We can all agree on this, that progress cannot come at the cost of our rights, our treaties or our responsibilities to the land. Anything that we do in this country will not be at the expense of our lands, our waters and our resources. For generations, decisions have been made without us, while the impacts fall on our nations and our families.”
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Some of the people who’ve taken the time to read through Building Canada Act (Bill C-5) will no doubt be puzzled by the chiefs’ strong reaction to the legislation. If anything at all is clearly spelled out in Bill-C5 it is the requirement to consult with First Nations during the approval process. In the section of the Act where examples of the criteria for projects most likely to be approved are described it goes further by indicating projects should specifically benefit First Nations.
A month and a half prior to the Winnipeg meeting a group of nine First Nations filed a lawsuit calling for an injunction to block developments under C-5 until there has been greater consultation with Indigenous groups. The legal challenge could prove to be a much bigger problem than this summer’s handful protests if it signals the launch of an anti-development litigation free for all.
A few days after the suit was filed a “summit” meeting was held between First Nations national chiefs and the prime minister at Gatineau Quebec. The purpose was to discuss C-5 and its implications for treaty rights and the welfare of First Nations communities.
Indigenous people can’t be faulted for wondering about the implications of Bill C-5. Many Canadians remain confused about what to make of the Building Canada Act. Mark Carney claims the Bill heralds an economic development boom. On the other hand there are cynics who believe one of the purposes of C-5 is to temporarily appease Ottawa’s critics in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The tenor of the Winnipeg meeting suggests the platitudes, vague promises and bland talking points the prime minister delivered at the July 17 summit failed to impress.
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In the event that the federal government accedes to the Chiefs’ $800 million demand it could significantly disrupt and delay the fast-track approval process envisioned under Bill C-5.
For example, what if the $800 million is used to subsidize the research and legal fees for lawsuits based on issues such as the constitutional duty to consult First Nations or the British Columbia courts’ bizarre interpretations of treaty rights?
If the government provides First Nations with the full amount of the request, a total of $1.0 billion in federal funds (including the $206 million available for climate change awareness) will conceivably be available to organizations whose activities could be inimical to the future of the petroleum industry, new export pipelines and many of the other types of project will presumably be fast-tracked under C-5 such as development of Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral deposits.
So what are the chances the Chiefs will have access to all or part or the $800 million demanded?
If the Carney government follows the practices established by the Justin Trudeau Liberals, there are reasonable grounds to assume the cash will flow to First Nations, enabling their participation in the approval process. No less troubling is the potential for funds to be used to have previously approved projects, disrupted, delayed and cancelled.
This past June, the Fraser Institute published a report by Calgary political scientist, Tom Flanagan, dealing with “specific legal claims” made by First Nations under the terms of the Indian Act. According to Flanagan the value of specific settlements grew at an astonishing pace beginning in 2015 when the newly elected Justin Trudeau Liberals instructed government officials to negotiate rather than litigate all specific First nations claims.
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Bureaucrats employed by virtue signaling Liberal governments that have been unwilling to say “no” to First Nations rather than the courts are now responsible for settlements.
Flanagan reports that as of fiscal 2024-25 alone “the government settled 69 claims for an astonishing total of $7.1 billion dollars.”
If one or more First Nations files suit alleging that their rights under the Indian Act and the Constitution would be fundamentally infringed without having access to the $800 million to participate in the Bil-C5 approval process, it is appears possible that funding could be made available.
For supporters of oil production and pipelines the prospects aren’t comforting. The opponents of fossil fuels could potentially have a $1.0 billion taxpayer-financed war chest to work with.
And if all that isn’t enough to ruin one’s day, let’s not forget that from approximately 2008 until 2021 Canadian environmental groups waging the anti-Alberta energy campaign received over $1.0 billion in funding from foreign (mostly US-based) foundations to help finance their assault on oil and pipelines.
Successfully opposing the Trump administration’s unraveling of the Byden Democrats’ emissions reduction efforts could be a tall order even for wealthy eco-friendly donors. Perhaps environmentally-alarmed US foundations will find it preferable to go after the low hanging fruit available in Mark Carney’s environmentally virtuous Canada.
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