NOTLEY'S COLLABORATIVE SOLUTION WITH OIL CO's

  At the end of November 2015, the CEOs of Cenovus and Suncor stood with their colleagues from Shell Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. along with representatives from four major environmental organizations, as Notley unveiled her province’s new climate change policy.
   Notley’s plan included a phase-out of coal power, a hard cap on emissions for the entire oilsands and a new economy-wide carbon tax. In exchange for supporting this new policy, the four assembled oil company grandees were expecting to obtain that mysterious and elusive gift of a “social licence.” Higher taxes and emissions caps were to be the price paid for being allowed to ship oil to international markets via new pipelines. Notley’s scheme “enables Alberta to be a leader, not only in climate policy, but also in … collaborative solutions and energy development,” Brian Ferguson, then-CEO of Cenovus, said. That his successor now sees a “full-blown economic crisis” provides convincing proof that the “collaborative solution” hasn’t worked out as expected.
    Amid the current crisis, these four carbon-tax backers now find their paths diverging sharply. Shell Canada sold off its oilsands assets last year. Cenovus and Canadian Natural Resources want an oil quota system to save their bacon. And Suncor argues the market should rule. In fairness, all should be ashamed of participating in what has now been revealed as a ruse. There was never any real prospect of a quid pro quo deal on pipelines. They were duped.