A federal private member's bill to restrict fossil-fuel advertising earns bipartisan scorn out West.Oil and gas are major contributors to Canada's carbon emissions, from both the oilsands plants like Syncrude and out of our vehicle tailpipes. NDP MP Charlie Angus wants to crack down on fossil-fuel advertising in the same way Canada did with tobacco in the 1990s.
"They're shifting their propaganda with false claims of producing cleaner products, claiming they can be part of the climate solution," Angus told reporters this week. "That's like Benson & Hedges telling you that they can help end lung cancer." NDP member of Parliament Charlie Angus speaks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in March 2022. In promoting his private member's bill, he took direct aim at oil groups like Pathways Alliance, the coalition of oilsands companies that heavily advertise their bid to reach net-zero by 2050.
But for now, oil and gas are in normal, widespread use in society; alternatives for petroleum cessation are not so easy as chewing gum or a patch. As the country'sand much of western Canada's lifeblood industry, it's a more economically significant sector than the phased-out tobacco farms ever were in this country.