ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised Tuesday to enact a set of five demands from the country’s energy sector if his party forms government -- and contrasted that commitment with what he called the Liberals’ “radical keep-it-in-the-ground policies.”
In an open letter dated March 18, five days before the election campaign began, the heads of 14 energy companies called on all party leaders to capitalize on increasing public support for expanding the sector in the face of U.S. tariffs.
“Canadians increasingly see the importance of using our abundant energy to ensure Canada can defend its sovereignty, play a role in the world as a force for good, and improve our overall economic competitiveness and prosperity,” the letter says.
Titled “Build Canada now,” the letter outlines “how Canadian energy can help strengthen Canada’s economic sovereignty.”
It calls for five measures: streamlined regulation of projects, six-month deadlines for project approvals, an end to both the emissions cap and the industrial carbon price, and the provision of Indigenous loan guarantees “at scale.”
Poilievre listed those five recommendations and checked them off on a giant poster at a tightly controlled press conference in St. John’s Tuesday, where the Conservative leader allowed just four questions from reporters.
The Liberals would not fulfil any of the letter’s recommendations, he said.
“These are the demands that our energy sector has made,” he said, gesturing to the poster.
The energy companies, he said, put it very clearly: “It’s not a matter of debate. Either you do these five things or we will stay dependent on the Americans.”
Liberal Leader Mark Carney had a different message Tuesday. At a press event in Winnipeg, Carney said he would not repeal Bill C-69 -- one of the requests from the companies that signed the open letter.
Bill C-69 requires that resource projects be assessed for environmental, health, social and economic impacts and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Critics, including Poilievre, have called it the “no more pipelines act.”
Carney said his government would instead follow a “one project, one approval” principle, eliminating duplication in environmental assessments and other processes.
“What’s essential is to work, at this time of crisis, to come together as a nation, all levels of government, to focus on those projects that are going to make material differences to our country, to Canadian workers and to our future,” he told reporters.
Poilievre held a rally in Borden-Carleton, P.E.I., on Tuesday evening, rolling into a steel manufacturing plant on his campaign bus. At the event, he reiterated his major policy points, including to “axe” taxes, cut government spending and impose mandatory life sentences on people found guilty of trafficking fentanyl.
Poilievre also spoke about threats from the U.S. at his rally in Borden-Carleton, P.E.I., on Tuesday evening. He argued that Carney “will keep Canada weak.”
“The question in this election will be whether we continue to weaken our economy and hand over our resources to an increasingly unpredictable and hostile American leadership or whether we bring home the production here,” Poilievre said. “Who’s ready to bring home our resource jobs and our economic might so that we can stand up to President Trump from a position of strength?”
Just before the election began, Carney met with Canada’s premiers in Ottawa and announced following the meeting that they had agreed to a one project, one review plan.
Poilievre mentioned, but did not focus on, the carbon price, Tuesday, despite it being the day the consumer levy on greenhouse gas emissions officially went to zero.
His pledge to “axe the tax” has been central to his messaging since he ran for the party leadership in 2022, and for months demanded the Liberals call a “carbon tax election.”
The day he was sworn in Carney and his cabinet agreed that on April 1, instead of hiking the carbon price another $15 per tonne, it would be set to zero. He has also pledged to strengthen the industrial carbon price in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The move changed the regulation but the House of Commons has not met which is required to repeal the law that allows for the price.
On Tuesday, as the consumer carbon price ended, Poilievre said the Liberals would just bring the carbon price back after the election.
Poilievre has said a Conservative government would end the industrial price on carbon and repeal the law that enacted it, to “axe the tax for everyone, for everything, for good, for real, for a change.”
“You know, up until about two months ago, the Liberals said that if we didn’t have a carbon tax the whole planet would be lit aflame,” he said.
In the open letter, the energy companies also suggest the federal government could use emergency powers to quickly expand the sector if it announces an energy crisis and declares certain projects to be in the national interest.
Poilievre did not say whether his government would use emergency powers.
Adam Waterous, executive chairman of Strathcona Resources Ltd. and one of the signatories of the letter, was among several oil and gas executives who attended a Conservative fundraising event hosted by Poilievre in Banff in 2023. He’s also a regular donor to the party.
In recent announcements, Poilievre has pledged to pre-approve large projects by creating “shovel-ready zones” for things like natural gas liquefaction plants and a national energy corridor.
At another closely controlled event in Petty Harbour, N.L., a Poilievre staff member blocked reporters from asking questions of a local candidate.
Poilievre announced at the event that his government would end the ban on fishing in marine protected areas.
There are 14 such areas in Canada comprising about 480,000 square kilometres. They’re designed to conserve and protect marine species and populations.
The Harper government in 2010 made a commitment to protect 10 per cent of Canada’s marine areas within a decade, and the Trudeau government in 2020 raised the target to 30 per cent by 2030.
Poilievre pledged Tuesday to allow fish harvesting in those areas. He also said he backs a previous goal set by the Newfoundland and Labrador government to double offshore oil production by 2030.
A small group of protesters met Poilievre’s campaign bus at the event.
As he left the site, his supporters began chanting his signature slogans while the protesters ramped up their calls of, “fog off Pierre.”
Protester Sarah Worthman said she fears that Poilievre would strip rights away from the LGBTQ+ community, pointing to his past comments in support of banning transgender women from women’s sports and bathrooms.
“Really, he is a risk to all Canadians,” Worthman told reporters. “I hope he receives the message that he should be a lot kinder. Especially if you’re coming to Newfoundland and Labrador -- we care about other people here.”
The Liberals have dominated Newfoundland and Labrador since at least 2015, when the party won all seven ridings in the province. No Conservatives won a seat there in 2019, while one -- Clifford Small -- won the Coast of Bays--Central--Notre Dame riding in 2021.
Five of the six incumbent Liberals in the province, including former cabinet minister Seamus O’Regan, have said they won’t be seeking reelection.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s outgoing Premier Andrew Furey is one of two provincial Liberal premiers in the country and he enjoyed a good relationship with the Trudeau government.
That didn’t stop him vocally opposing several of Justin Trudeau’s policies, including the consumer carbon price. Furey also has demanded a joint federal-provincial management structure for the province’s fisheries.
-- With files from Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.
