Seniors group urges Carney government to reject West Coast oil pipeline
The group says the project lacks economic, moral and climate justification ahead of an October 1 decision deadline.
OTTAWA — A seniors climate action group is urging the federal government to reject a proposed West Coast oil pipeline ahead of an October 1 decision deadline.
Seniors for Climate Action Now! (SCAN!) issued a statement saying the project has no economic, moral, reconciliation or climate justification.
"The climate breakdown occurring around the world is not a biblical event," the group said, referencing Prime Minister Carney's recent description of stormy weather. "By scientific consensus, it is human-caused, driven primarily by fossil fuels."
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The group pointed to this year's wildfires and evacuations as evidence the climate crisis is already here. "Many of us voted for your government, having read what you wrote before you sought office: that climate change is 'the ultimate betrayal of intergenerational equity,'" the statement said.
It argued the proposed pipeline represents that "tragedy of the horizon" made concrete, as infrastructure built now would still be operating in the 2060s.
On economics, the group cited an independent analysis finding the pipeline is not needed, as existing expansions can carry projected output. It said the project would impose a $2.2 to $3.2 billion annual drag on the industry.
"If this project made economic sense, industry would be leading it," the statement said. It noted governments would carry roughly 90 percent of the cost, which Alberta estimates at $35.2 to $43.7 billion.
Combined with other projects, public exposure approaches $100 billion, which the group said is roughly a decade of universal pharmacare funding.
On moral grounds, SCAN! said the four largest oil sands producers are about 73 percent foreign-owned. "We are being asked to place foreign shareholders’ returns ahead of our cost of living, health, safety, and future," the statement said.
It noted those companies booked $13.3 billion in after-tax profit in a single quarter this year as war drove prices up.
The group also said there is no reconciliation case, as First Nations along the route say they were not properly consulted. "A project crossing Indigenous lands without consent is not reconciliation, it is its reversal," the statement said.
On climate, SCAN! said the pipeline will increase emissions in Canada and make a major contribution to global emissions, as 70 to 80 percent of lifecycle emissions come from burning the fuel.
"There is no such thing as decarbonized oil," the group said.
The seniors asked the government to do three things before the October 1 decision: stop the West Coast pipeline and stop treating LNG expansion as compatible with climate commitments; meet Canada's emissions targets by restoring policies; and build a national resilience strategy for wildfires, floods and extreme weather.
"What a country builds with public money is a statement of what it values," the statement said. "We ask you to build for the Canadians already living through fires, floods, and extreme weather, and for those who come after us, not for the balance sheets of companies unwilling to risk their own capital on this project."
SCAN! mobilizes and educates seniors to build a pan-Canadian climate action movement.
With files from Canadian Dimension