Fossik fuel lobbyists would like to see an imcrease in the number of oil ytankers, like this one seen heading out Burrard Inlet
Energy, Politics

Fossil Fuel Lobbyists very active in 2025, report says

Fossil fuel interests increased their lobbying during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s tenure. According to Environmental Defence’s  2025 Fossil Fuel Playbook, iindustry lobbyists met with federal officials 986 times in 2025, despite a three-month lull during the election period.

Jennifer Lash, the Liberal candidate in North island-Powell River during the last election, responded, “There is no question that this Liberal government has signalled they are open to conversations with the fossil fuel sector and these numbers show that the companies are accepting the invitation. What really matters, however, is the outcome, particularly with the commitments in the MoU.  Canada must ensure the methane equivalency agreement and industrial carbon pricing regulations are rigorous and effective and I will be watching to see what happens in the coming weeks.”  

Construction on the Trans Mountain PIpeline expansion after the Liberal Government purchased it in 2018 – Photo by Adam Jones via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The five most active fossil fuel lobbyists represented:

  •  The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) – 138 times;
  • Enbridge – (107 meetings), largest pipeline network in North America; 
  • Shell Canada – (77, meetings),  owns 40% stake in the LNG Canada project in British Columbia and refineries in Alberta and Ontario; 
  • Suncor – (71 meetings) from the Alberta oil sands,’ 
  • Pembina Pipeline corporation – (62 times)

Lobbyists representing the Pathways Alliance or its member companies, who have been claiming they can develop an effective carbon capture technology since 2021, had 216 meetings.

Emilia Belliveau, lead author of the Playbook, wrote that the federal Minister most targeted by fossil fuel lobbyists was Tim Hodgson of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), who they met with 63 times.  

“Ministry staff at NRCan also took an exceptional number of lobby meetings, at least 319, which is 61 more than the previous year. This year NRCan stopped the development of the oil and gas emissions cap regulations; made changes to the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Investment Tax Credit so that subsidies can flow to oil companies that use CCS to increase oil production; increased tax incentives for the LNG sector and extended the length of time allotted to LNG export licenses; ended the Canada Greener Homes Grant and Greener Homes Loan programs; and reoriented around building large ‘Projects of National Interest,’ including new fossil fuel infrastructure.”

“Other ministries that share responsibility for climate action remain key targets for lobbyists. Environment and Climate Change Canada was lobbied 114 times, and Finance Canada had 100 lobby meetings.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has had at least 17 meetings with fossil fuel lobbyists since his election. By way of comparison, Justin Trudeau only had two meetings during the last two years he was Prime Minister. (This was right after the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion was completed.)

The 2025 Fossil Fuel Lobbying Report lists 103 MPs who were contacted, 54 of which were Liberals and many of them backbenchers.  

They also met with 48 Conservatives. 

The most frequent was Shannon Stubs, from the oil producing Lakeland riding in Alberta (9 times). A post on her website states, “The Liberal’s shipping ban blocks Canadian energy exports to Asia and shows the world that the Liberals are okay with dirty dictator oil. Only Conservatives will continue to fight for Canadian energy sovereignty, security, affordability, and self-reliance.” 

(The ‘Liberal shipping ban’ she mentioned is the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act (2017) which protects protects the waters of Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound. It complements the voluntary tanker exclusion zone set up under Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s government in 1985. There is no ‘tanker ban’ on oil flowing through the Tran Mountain Pipeline, which recently announced plans to increase its capacity from 890,000 to 1,190,000 barrels per day by 2028.)  

Party leader Pierre Poilievre was one of the three Conservative MPs contacted 5 times. 

Aaron Gunn, MP for North Island-Powell River, is not on the list of those contacted. In a recent interview he explained, “In this riding we don’t have any oil unfortunately,’ but he has spoken on behalf of the industry on a number of occasions. For example, on December 9 he stated, “We are supposed to be a first world country, not a banana republic. We set the highest environmental standards in the world. If one meets them, one should be allowed to build the project, whether it is a mine, a pipeline or a new housing development.”

To which Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who is also not on the list of MPs contacted, replied, “I am wondering if Conservatives who have been debating this motion today remember the Conservative Party platform from 2011 (under Stephen Harper), which would have prohibited any pipeline to the northern B.C. coast to ship any diluted bitumen to China. The Conservative Party policy at that time was that we should not ship diluted bitumen to any country with lower environmental standards for our refineries.”

There is only one lobbyist meeting with the NDP cited and that was with  former party leader Jagmeet Singh.  

Links of Interest:

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