Taxpayers’ Money Subsidizes Wealthy Oil Industry and Fuels Renewable Roadblocks
An oft-overlooked aspect of the fossil fuel industry in Canada is the vast amount of money in subsidies that it continues to receive. These subsidies, which can come in various forms, are funded by public taxpayers’ money. They encourage the extraction of fossil fuels, which continue to scar landscapes and pollute the air, water, and land, cause adverse health impacts to humans, and release enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Yet, in a report published by Environmental Defence titled “Doubling Down with Taxpayer Dollars”, Alberta alone provided fiscal supports of over $2 billion to the fossil fuel industry in the province during the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Based on estimates from 2013-2015, as a nation Canada provides around $3.3 billion yearly in fossil fuel subsidies. A further $4.5 billion purchase of the Kinder Morgan pipeline and the $1.6 billion aid package to resuscitate the fossil fuel industry is further evidence of support for wealthy investors and a future of climate risk and ecological devastation. Corporate welfare of this magnitude could be much better spent elsewhere to improve and enrich the lives of Canadians. As a comparison, the same article which gives the national subsidy estimate, “Unpacking Canada’s Fossil Fuel Subsidies”, states that $3.3 billion could provide education for 260,000 students or offer employment training for 330,000 workers calculated on a yearly basis. For reference, Canada’s entire employment population for mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction numbered less than 200,000 in 2017.
In a scorecard report on G7 countries published by the Overseas Development Institute, Canada ranked last for the indicator ending support for oil and gas production. A resulting consequence from these ongoing fossil fuel subsidies is that they damper the growth of renewable energies in Canada, which inhibits a just transition towards economies, environments, and societies that are sustainable. Spending on renewable energies is an investment towards this kind of future. Spending for fossil fuels is not.
According to this report which polled Canadians’ opinions on fossil fuel subsidies, two-thirds of Canadians disagree with the statement that “oil and gas companies should receive subsidies from Canada’s federal and provincial governments.” With this amount of opposition to fossil fuel subsidies yet its persistence, clearly there is a discrepancy between what the public wants and what is being done. Judging from the results of this poll question, the majority public wants to put a stop on subsidies to the wealthy oil industry.