S H O C K E D

Good read

That MOU [memorandum of understanding with Alberta in November] crystalized Carney’s new political alignment: he wasn’t just pretending to appease the oil patch, as many had suspected or hoped. He genuinely wanted that million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline to BC’s coast and was committing the full resources of the federal government to get it built. According to the MOU, that pipeline’s emissions will be countered by the Pathways Alliance carbon capture project, whose fate is now tied to the pipeline. As the document states, “the two projects . . . are mutually dependent.”

But according to Pathways’ own numbers, the project would capture less than one-tenth of the carbon this new pipeline will unleash. It’s the perfect illustration of carbon capture’s moral hazard: by explicitly tying it to increased oil production, carbon capture literally increases emissions.

It beggars belief to suppose Carney doesn’t know all this. Yet he’s adopted phrases like “decarbonized oil” to suggest otherwise, as part of the sales pitch. That kind of language cuts deeper than any policy betrayal. It’s one thing to make compromises in times of national crisis; this twisting of math and meaning verges on disinformation.

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By signing pipeline deals, promoting LNG, and cultivating an unprecedented friendship with Alberta, Carney has painted the federal opposition into a corner. Two Conservative members of Parliament have crossed the floor to join the Liberals. The two most powerful Conservative premiers—Alberta’s Danielle Smith and Ontario’s Doug Ford—now have a better relationship with Carney than they do with the federal Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre.

The MOU cemented this state of affairs. A Leger poll, conducted over the three days following its release, put Liberals well ahead of Conservatives: 43 to 36 percent. Carney’s personal performance had a 51 percent approval rating compared to Poilievre’s 31 percent. Canadians seemingly just aren’t as worried about climate change as they used to be—or maybe they’re just more afraid of other things. Or are they just tired of being scared?