Minister calls out Poilievre over oil and gas fundraiser

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of catering to his “rich friends” in the oil and gas sector by pushing a policy to scrap carbon pricing. 

Guilbeault said Tuesday that Poilievre is clearly trying to curry favour with oil and gas executives who contributed to a fundraiser he held in Banff, Alta. last year by promising to kill the carbon price, eliminate the clean fuel standard and move away from regulations to cap emissions in the oil and gas sector.

“It is their interest that he’s protecting. I can assure you that oil executives don’t show up to my fundraisers,” Guilbeault said. 

“He wants to give polluters a free pass, but he should not get one.”

An Elections Canada filing shared by the Liberals shows that a number of executives, including one from a major oil and gas company, attended a Conservative fundraiser advertised as “An Evening with Pierre Poilievre” on April 11, 2023. 

The evening cost up to $1,700 per person. The attendee list includes Alexander Pourbaix, executive chair of the board of directors at Cenovus, Adam Waterous, managing partner and CEO of Waterous Energy Fund as well as Jim Riddell, who heads Paramount Resources. 

Separate Elections Canada records show that all three men made a donation of $1,600 each to the Conservative Party of Canada the same week.

The Canadian Press has reached out to all of them for comment.

Guilbeault said Poilievre’s pledge to do away with carbon pricing is about helping his “rich friends.”

Poilievre has built his entire election strategy around a promise to “axe the tax” for consumers, which was brought in by the Liberals to encourage individuals and smaller businesses to reduce carbon-emitting consumption by making fossil fuels more expensive.

The Conservative leader has not made his position clear on the industrial carbon pricing system, which makes big polluters pay on a portion of their emissions.

He insists the consumer carbon levy is making life less affordable while the Liberals charge that Poilievre never discusses the rebates sent out to offset the cost.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Poilievre’s office for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024