“If Canada did not have contributions from oil and gas right now, Canada would be in a recession,” argued Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs, before the Commons' natural resources committee.

By 2032, the feds hope to cut oil and gas emissions by 35% from 2019 levels. The cap-and-trade proposal mandates a less daunting emissions target than what was campaigned on during the 2021 federal election. 

The feds will finalize the regulations next year and implement them by 2026, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told reporters on Monday. “It will reward low polluting facilities and incentivize higher polluting facilities to invest,” he claimed.

The Department of Environment did not disclose the regulatory text that includes a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement outlining costs, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

MP Stubbs maintains that following through on the cap would “cut oil and gas production, jobs, businesses and money from Canada.”

Under the cap, Canada must curtail oil production by 626,000 barrels per day by 2030 or 10.0% of the expected production. It must also curtail gas production by roughly 12%.

A new report by Deloitte, Canada’s leading audit and consulting firm, found it would curtail production, destroy jobs and cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars. 

A recent economic analysis by the Conference Board of Canada substantiated that claim, stating the cap may reduce Canada’s GDP by up to $1 trillion by 2040. It would also eliminate up to 151,000 jobs by 2030, and reduce federal revenues by $151 billion over that decade.

Alberta will be hit hardest, it said, with 3.6% less investment, almost 70,000 fewer jobs, and a 4.5% decrease in GDP by 2040. It would reduce provincial revenues by up to $127 billion over the same period.

Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan asked Chrystia Freeland, the finance minister, to clarify how devastating the job losses would be from the cap. She refused to respond adequately, prompting pushback from the finance critic.

“I just need the number,” said Hallan. “If you don’t have the number, just say so.” Freeland instead chose to attack the apparent “falsehoods” embedded in his question.

Between the United States, Mexico and Norway — economic allies to Canada and energy-producing rivals — no production cap has been imposed elsewhere. Guilbeault concurred that was the case. “We are the only large oil and gas producer in the world to do this,” he told the commons committee.

“I absolutely recognize the value that it [our oil and gas sector] brings in terms of jobs, in terms of revenue, in terms of our trade balance,” Freeland added.

Premier Danielle Smith told reporters Monday that the cap violates section 92 of Canada's constitution, which gives provinces exclusive jurisdiction over non-renewable natural resource development.

“It goes after pollution, not production,” Guilbeault said at a separate press conference, prompting a fiery response from the premier.

“Albertans and all Canadians can rely on our government to actively explore the use of every legal option, including a constitutional challenge and the use of the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act,” she told reporters.

“It is not an emissions cap,” clarified Smith. “It is a production cap.”

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