Environmental Defence’s report finds that fossil fuel lobbyists met with federal government officials 1,135 times in 2024.
Montréal/Tiohtià:ke | Traditional, unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation, a gathering place for many First Nations, including the Anishinaabeg – Today, Environmental Defence released its annual report evaluating lobbying by the fossil fuel industry, Big Oil’s Lobbying Playbook: A Summary of the Fossil Fuel Industry’s 2024 Federal Lobbying. In 2024, fossil fuel companies and industry associations had at least 1,135 lobby meetings with the federal government. Lobbyists heavily targeted ministries responsible for environmental and climate policy, and the Privy Council Office, as well as the former finance minister and Members of Parliament from the Official Opposition.
“Big Oil relies on lobbying because it works –they use it to weaken climate policies and dodge accountability,” said Emilia Belliveau, Energy Transition Program Manager at Environmental Defence. “In 2024, Big Oil made it clear they oppose climate rules that curb pollution or prevent greenwashing. As fossil fuel interests exploit the situation in the U.S., Canada must resist similar rollbacks. This report shows how they’re using the same playbook here –lobbying behind closed doors to put corporate profits over climate action.”
The report compiles data from the federal Registry of Lobbyists, tracking lobbying activity from 35 fossil fuel companies and industry associations. It highlights the most active fossil fuel industry lobbyists, and the Members of Parliament, ministries and ministers they targeted.
Some of the key takeaways from the report include:
- Fossil fuel companies and their main industry associations had at least 1135 meetings with the federal government in 2024. That means Big Oil lobbied Parliament more than four times per working day.
- Enbridge and Suncor did the most lobbying in the industry in 2024. Enbridge, the largest distributor of “natural” fossil gas in North America, lobbied the federal government 106 times. Suncor, one of the major tar sands producers in Canada, lobbied 94 times.
- Pathways Alliance and its members lobbied the government more than any other oil and gas group. In total, they held at least 356 meetings, including both individual company lobbying and meetings by the Alliance.
- The federal ministries most frequently targeted by lobbyists were Natural Resources Canada (250 meetings), Environment and Climate Change Canada (168 meetings), the Privy Council Office (143 meetings) and Finance Canada (109 meetings).
- The ministers most lobbied were former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (19 meetings) and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson (15 meetings).
- Oil and gas companies and industry associations lobbied Members of Parliament (MPs) 311 times. Conservative Party MPs took 216 lobby meetings. Liberal Ministers took 62 meetings and Liberal MPs took 29 lobby meetings. The Conservative Party had more than twice as many lobby meetings as the governing Liberal Party when including meetings with Ministers, and seven times as many when considering just MPs. The NDP took four. Green Party and Bloc Québécois MPs did not meet with the oil and gas lobby.
These figures do not capture the entire extent of the industry’s access, given that the data only includes lobbyist-initiated meetings, not those arranged by the government.
“Canadians are deeply concerned about climate change. We deserve a government that takes the threat of the climate crisis seriously and acts with integrity and urgency to address it,” said Belliveau, “Fossil fuel companies are using this political moment, and the influence they’ve gained in the U.S., to reverse years of progress on climate issues. They are going after policies designed to protect the people and places we love from extreme climate impacts. The next federal government must put people first and make corporate polluters pay.”
With an election looming, Environmental Defence calls on Ministers and MPs to stop accepting meetings with fossil fuel industry lobbyists.
Background Information
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Midhat Moini, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
