NDP MP Charlie Angus’s Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, tabled last week, says it is designed to 'prevent the public from being deceived or misled with respect to the environmental and health hazards of using fossil fuels” and “to enhance public awareness of those hazards.'Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The energy critics at the Alberta and Saskatchewan NDP parties have raised concerns about their federal counterpart’s bill targeting fossil-fuel advertising, saying it is polarizing and stressed the importance of energy jobs in their provinces.
In his response to the criticism Monday, federal NDP natural resources critic Charlie Angus said he welcomed the debate and pointed to Canadians being increasingly concerned about the climate crisis. That’s why he put forward a private member’s bill focused on the issue of corporate accountability of the “powerful oil lobby,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Angus’s Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, tabled last week, says it is designed to “prevent the public from being deceived or misled with respect to the environmental and health hazards of using fossil fuels” and “to enhance public awareness of those hazards.”
The legislation proposes, amongst other things, that it should be prohibited “for a person to promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of a fossil fuel.”
But Alberta NDP energy critic Nagwan Al-Guneid and Saskatchewan NDP energy critic Aleana Young said Monday that they do not support Mr. Angus’s bill.
“Energy companies are important job creators in Alberta and Saskatchewan and shouldn’t be singled out by advertising restrictions,” they said in a statement.
“We already have legislation around false advertising, and we are more interested in advancing ideas that can actually help people. It is not helpful to pick fights that just polarize people and get in the way of the real solutions we need.”
They also said “elected officials should be advancing policies focused on creating good-paying jobs and diversifying our economy while addressing climate change.”
Mr. Angus said his bill has “nothing to do with jobs,” but about addressing the “massive budget for greenwashing being used by an industry that is laying off workers as they consistently fail to address rising C02 and methane emissions.”
The oil and lobby are running a “massive campaign claiming that they are part of the climate solution and that they are producing cleaner products.”
While he was speaking on Parliament Hill, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was also asked about concerns brought forward about Mr. Angus’s bill. He said the NDP is a large party, and that members in Alberta and Saskatchewan are committed to shared values, such as a public health care system and making sure that workers and their rights are protected.
“That’s a normal thing that happens,” he said on disagreements between New Democrats. “But we share far more in common.”