Pathways Alliance says new legislation that prompted it to strip its website will ‘silence’ other Canadian businesses
Here’s why the group decided to remove the content and why the change in Canada’s Competition Act affects more than just the oilsands.
What is greenwashing?
In 2015, Canada and 194 other countries signed the Paris Agreement, under which the world is aiming to limit the rise of the global average temperature to less than 2 C. In order to do that, Canada is trying to reduce its carbon emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
To meet that goal, Canada would need some of its heavy-emitting sectors, such as transport and oil and gas, to reduce their dependency on carbon. As such, the federal government wants to ensure companies are actually taking steps towards that goal instead of just participating in deceptive marketing practices.
Why Pathways responded?
The bill adds two paragraphs linked to environmental protection in a Competition Act section that deals with deceptive marketing practices. The additions essentially say that the methods promoted by businesses to protect the environment need to be based on verified methods and should be in accordance with “internationally recognized methodology.”
“Creating a public disclosure standard that is so vague as to lack meaning and that relies on undefined ‘internationally recognized methodology’ opens the door for frivolous litigation,” the association said in a statement on June 20. “This represents a serious threat to freedom of communication.”
It said its decision to remove the content was not because it didn’t believe in what it promoted, but because of the “significant uncertainty and risk” that it creates for all Canadian companies, regardless of the sector. The legislation will also “silence” Canadian businesses, it added.
The federal government disagreed with the alliance and said the bill’s passage was “good news” for the market.
“It’s simple: consumers deserve to know the truth about the record profits being made by the oil and gas sector,” he said in a statement.
How are other industries responding?
“These amendments have been put forward without consultation, clarity on guidelines, or the standards that must be met to achieve compliance,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
It said the amendments have been designed in such a way that those making a complaint face “no risk or accountability,” and that the burden falls entirely on companies to justify their public comments.
These changes empower private parties to force companies to appear before the Competition Tribunal to defend themselves, which is a shift from the current practice, where only the bureau enforces misleading advertising laws, it said. This opens the “floodgates” to “resource-draining complaints.”
Canada’s largest mining association echoed a similar sentiment in a letter sent to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne late last month.
He said that based on legal review, the lack of clarity around “internationally recognized methodology” raised serious concerns.
“It is unclear how the bureau or tribunal would apply this standard and the ambiguity could lead to ongoing compliance uncertainty and risk,” he said.
“Banks in Canada are implementing climate action plans and reporting on their actions,” said Maggie Cheung, the group’s media relations manager, in a statement last week. “This includes working with clients … to help them work towards their sustainability goals and pursue energy transition opportunities, and financing new and existing green projects.”
Alberta vs Ottawa
“Alberta is a global leader in the complex effort to reduce emissions from our energy industry,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “We need a lucid partner in Ottawa that is willing to work with us and not demonize one of Canada’s largest employers and industries.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it’s important that “people build their positions and their decisions around facts,” according to the CBC.
“Now, freedom of expression, freedom of people to share their points of view, is extraordinarily important. It’s one of the foundations of a free and open democracy,” he said on Thursday. “But we need to make sure that people are debating and discussing and basing their worldview on things that are anchored in truth and reality.”