It is important to note that Lewis has said that the NDP seeks to halt the expansion of oil and gas infrastructure rather than \u201cshut it down\u201d entirely. Lewis explained his opinions on energy, \u201cWe want to get off the boom-and-bust rollercoaster. Every time that anyone talks about starting a transition, the conversation is buried by this bad faith narrative that we\u2019re calling for shutting it all down tomorrow \u2014 which we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019s climate policies are expected to divide political opinion in Canada\u2019s West, particularly Alberta, and other parts of the country, as many in the main oil-producing province continue to support fossil fuel development. The NDP leader in Alberta, Naheed Nenshi, said that Lewis\u2019s stance on energy is not in the interests of the oil-rich province. \u201cAlbertans deserve federal leaders who understand the importance of Alberta and our essential role in the federation,\u201d said Nenshi.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck wrote in an open letter that she declined a meeting request from Lewis, citing his energy policies as the reason. Beck said<\/a> that Lewis\u2019s stance on energy jeopardised \u201c$13.6 billion in economic activity annually in Saskatchewan.\u201d However, some provincial NDP leaders have shown support for Lewis, supporting the leader\u2019s aim to drive down energy prices for consumers. This includes Manitoba\u2019s Premier Wab Kinew, who has stated that he believes Lewis would be a \u201cgreat voice for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Canada has long been divided on the issue of energy. In 2021, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was criticised<\/a> by those in the oil industry for appointing two men with strong environmental records as the environment and climate change minister and the natural resources minister. Trudeau stated from the beginning of his last term that addressing climate change was a major priority, having already imposed a carbon tax and pledged net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n The move drew criticism from those in the fossil fuel industry, particularly in Alberta, over fears the PM would turn his back on the industry. Meanwhile, many renewable energy advocates criticised Trudeau for not doing enough to support a green transition<\/a>. Now, his successor, Mark Carney, is facing the same dilemmas.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Prime Minister, Liberal Party leader Mark Carney, has strived to make Canada a global \u201cenergy superpower\u201d since taking over from Trudeau last year. Carney has focused on reducing the country\u2019s trade reliance on the United States, particularly following repeated threats from Trump that the U.S. could introduce or increase tariffs on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n Over the last year, Carney has begun to undo many of Trudeau\u2019s green transition energy policies<\/a> in support of oil and gas. Carney has encouraged LNG production and signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta\u2019s Premier Danielle Smith in November to advance a new bitumen pipeline<\/a> in British Columbia, much to the dismay of Canadian environmentalists.<\/p>\n With Canada so divided over energy, it appears that no leader\u2019s stance on energy will be entirely satisfactory to voters. Despite Canada\u2019s oil production increase<\/a> under Trudeau, he is often remembered because of his support for renewable energy and supposed opposition to oil and gas. Meanwhile, Carney is widely criticised by environmentalists for undoing the energy diversification of recent years.<\/p>\n By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com<\/p>\n More Top Reads From Oilprice.com<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada is often torn in two different directions when it comes to energy policy, with former Prime Minister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[137083,218912,45,49,48,224430,39693,46,299,100833,4736,2659,19954,23352],"class_list":{"0":"post-588523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-alberta-oil","9":"tag-avi-lewis","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-canada-energy-policy","14":"tag-climate-policy","15":"tag-economy","16":"tag-fossil-fuels","17":"tag-green-transition","18":"tag-lng-canada","19":"tag-mark-carney","20":"tag-ndp","21":"tag-oil-sands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/book.jpg\"\/)
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