Indigenous Group Fighting Emissions Cap Quietly Supported by Top Canadian Oil Company

An Indigenous Resource Network spokesperson confirmed funding from Cenovus, but denied the companyโ€™s membership status.
Geoff Dembicki
Geoff Dembicki
on
Cenovus oil sands facility at Christina Lake, Alberta
Visitors tour a Cenovus oil sands facility at Christina Lake, Alberta. Photo by Todd Korol (Flickr CC)

A national Indigenous group is fighting a proposed federal limit on oil and gas sector emissions by arguing it will harm First Nations, Mรฉtis and Inuit communities. 

But the group has a powerful non-Indigenous ally, according to corporate documents from Canadaโ€™s second-largest oil and gas producer. 

Cenovus, a Calgary-based oil sands company that last year had net earnings of $6.5 billion, says in those documents that it has paid for membership with the Indigenous Resource Network (IRN). Yet a spokesperson for the network called that a โ€œmisrepresentation.โ€

The IRN is currently running a campaign called โ€œDonโ€™t cap Indigenous opportunity,โ€ which is urging the federal government to scrap its plan to cut oil and gas emissions 46 percent from 2019 levels by putting an upper limit on allowable emissions from the sector. The regulations could be finalized by the end of the year.  

Such a policy โ€œwill stop Indigenous oil and gas projects, capping our ability to pursue economic self-determination, create generational wealth and our ability to address the poverty in our communities,โ€ the IRN claims

โ€œWe share the IRNโ€™s concern with any policy that limits economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples, and hinders their objectives for self-sustainability,โ€ a Cenovus spokesperson told DeSmog in a statement.

Cenovus isnโ€™t mentioned on IRNโ€™s website, nor in the groupโ€™s media interviews or presentations to Canadaโ€™s federal government. But in a document on its website entitled โ€œCenovus advocacy membership and sponsorships, 2021,โ€ย  the oil and gas producer lists the Indigenous Resource Network among memberships that have cost the company over $25,000.

A Cenovus document says the company paid more than $25,000 for membership with Indigenous Resource Network.

โ€œAs noted in our disclosure, we have been a supporter of IRN since 2021,โ€ the Cenovus spokesperson confirmed. โ€œYou will have to determine with IRN how they define membership and who else belongs to the organization.โ€

IRN spokesperson and board chair John Desjarlais downplayed Cenovusโ€™ involvement. โ€œOur membership we define as Indigenous workers and businesses,โ€ he said. โ€œCenovus is not a member, theyโ€™re not any type of authority, decision-making, anything like that.โ€

The network said in a statement that it โ€œis Indigenous governed and managed, independent, non-partisan advocacy organization giving a voice to Indigenous workers and Indigenous businesses involved in responsible resource development.โ€

Desjarlais confirmed that Cenovus has provided funding for the network, saying the support wasnโ€™t specifically tied to the campaign against the oil and gas emissions cap. โ€œWe do have funding sources from a variety of places, different industries, as well as different businesses, Indigenous business community associations, so itโ€™s pretty diverse in terms of where we get our funding from,โ€ he said.

Cree climate activist and author Clayton Thomas-Mรผller said that the financial support from Cenovus suggests IRN isnโ€™t just advocating for Indigenous communities. โ€œTheyโ€™re a propaganda machine on behalf of industry,โ€ he claimed during an interview with DeSmog. 

Tackling the oil and gas industryโ€™s carbon footprint is a priority for the federal government, because it accounts for about one-quarter of all the greenhouse gases released in Canada. 

But Cenovus and IRN have spoken out against the proposed federal emissions cap, which the Liberals first promised in 2021. 

โ€œI am very worried that if we remain on this path, it could lead to shutting in production at a time when the world is literally crying out for more oil and gas production,โ€ Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix said last year during a conference call with investors.

Last September, the IRN reiterated that message in a submission about the policy to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources. โ€œThere is widespread agreement that governmentโ€™s proposed cap and cut in emissions cannot be done without a cap and cut in production,โ€ the group wrote. โ€œThere is no way the proposed emission cap and cut can go forward without also reducing the economic opportunities to Indigenous workers, businesses and communities in the form of jobs, contracts, and own source revenues.โ€ 

Thomas-Mรผller disagrees that Indigenous prosperity is so dependent on industries which destabilize the climate. 

โ€œItโ€™s really unfortunate that IRN misrepresents what I think is a really complex and nuanced issue,โ€ he said. โ€œIndigenous peoples deserve economic opportunity and a chance to level the economic playing fieldโ€ฆbut the type of development theyโ€™re pushing, itโ€™s only going to push us further into ecological crisis.โ€

Organizations such as the International Energy Agency say that if we want to stabilize global temperature rise and avoid the worst consequences of a heated planet there must be โ€œno new oil and gas fields approved for development.โ€ 

Yet in northwest British Columbia alone, TC Energy is building the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a Shell-led consortium called LNG Canada is constructing a liquefied natural gas terminal, and a partnership between the oil company Pembina and the Haisla First Nation is proposing another terminal project called Cedar LNG. 

IRN executive director Robert Merasty didnโ€™t mention the vast climate impacts of these projects in a Financial Post op-ed last fall. โ€œWe want a better future for our people and that is best achieved by engaging with industry on ownership opportunities,โ€ he wrote. 

โ€œTheyโ€™re repeating the talking points of industry,โ€ Thomas-Mรผller said. โ€œI significantly question if these people actually do care about the future of Indigenous economies in Canada with the archaic expansion of industry that theyโ€™re supporting.โ€

Geoff Dembicki
Geoff Dembicki is an investigative climate journalist based in New York City. He is author of The Petroleum Papers and Are We Screwed?

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