Inside the Canadian oilsands lobby’s request to fast-track a major project – The Narwhal

May 27, 2024

Pathways Alliance lobbyists privately asked the government if they could skip a federal assessment. Here’s how the environment minister responded to documents obtained by The Narwhal

A lobby group representing Canada’s biggest oil and gas producers has asked the government to fast-track a major industrial project in a move the federal environment minister says could “circumvent” the law.

The project is a proposal by the Pathways Alliance, a group of six fossil fuel companies that wants to capture massive amounts of carbon pollution from oilsands facilities in Alberta and transport it hundreds of kilometres to an underground storage hub. The lobby group delivered its request in a letter sent to four federal cabinet ministers in January 2023 and included in internal government correspondence obtained by The Narwhal.