Climate denialism’s greatest champions are in New Brunswick

In a world where global temperatures are set to rise by at least 1.8 °C and climate scientists say we must act accordingly and exceed our climate goals, the Carney and Holt Liberal governments prefer fossil fuel expansion and condemning us to carbon lock-in. 

Saint John-Kennebecasis Liberal MP Wayne Long is perhaps one of New Brunswick’s greatest climate denialists. 

To be clear, Long, Carney and Holt belong to the ‘new climate denialism’ camp. The ‘new climate denialists’ acknowledge global warming and climate change are real, but they actively work against any meaningful climate action as determined by climate scientists.

Long has been a vocal supporter of fossil fuels, including the now defunct Energy East pipeline and more recently the lifting of the fracking moratorium in New Brunswick. 

Last year, Long told the Telegraph-Journal, “We need to frack.” He has said he has always been pro-fracking and pro-extraction. 

When running for re-election in 2021, Long was pictured with youth around him and signs in the background saying, ‘Wayne Long stands for climate action.’ He has betrayed the youth with mere words and actions that do not match. But this is a long-led tradition of Liberals campaigning to the left and governing to the right so should we be surprised by his actions?

By being so pro-fossil fuels, Long has demonstrated that the rights of Indigenous people mean little to him. Back in June 2017, Long said in Parliament, regarding the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Project that, “we will support the pipeline, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that the pipeline moves forward.” He added that the opposition Conservatives agree with him. 

What we have with the current federal Liberals is a Conservative government in disguise and a complete failure to act accordingly to the climate threat. Instead, we are seeing a roll back of environmental regulations. Environmental Defence calls it the “gutting of the environmental safety net” in the hopes that “no one notices.” 

We were worried about Harper’s gutting of environmental protections, but we have elected a Liberal government that has so blatantly embraced fossil fuels that Harper must be giddy with joy. 

Environmental Defence has written on the unprecedented growth in Big Oil lobbying the federal government. According to the report, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office has had approximately 1,318 meetings with fossil fuel lobbyists in his first year in office alone. The lobbyists have been given everything on their wish list, wreaking havoc on already too meek climate policies. 

It’s not just Long in the federal government that has been a vocal New Brunswick proponent of natural gas development. Beauséjour Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc told The Telegraph-Journal in June that, “If the New Brunswick government decides, on its own initiative, to develop the province’s natural gas and build an export terminal, it will have a very enthusiastic federal partner.” 

To the surprise of many and to LeBlanc’s satisfaction, Premier Susan Holt announced on August 26 that they are reviewing lifting the provincial moratorium on natural gas development. The government says it will look at five pillars over the next five months: public support; science, technology and environmental impacts; economic benefits; and commitment to First Nations, interest and priorities. We already know big oil interests take priority. 

Former New Brunswick Liberal Premier Frank McKenna sits on the board of Canadian Natural Resources Limited, one of Canada’s largest crude oil and natural gas producers. Recently, he linked global impacts from instability due to wars and Trump’s threats as a reason to expand natural gas production. McKenna recently told Brunswick News at a community event in Fredericton that the world had changed since the moratorium was introduced in 2011. Sound familiar? Long and Holt have also reminded us that the world has changed in their push to take the brake off gas production. 

During the last provincial election, First Nations leaders stated that they were not consulted about fracking under the Higgs Conservative government. In June, the Holt government and First Nations Chiefs held closed door meetings where natural gas development was discussed.

Proposed fracking for shale gas led to widespread protest over 10 years ago, resulting in aggressive tactics deployed by the RCMP towards Mi’kmaq people in and around Elsipogtog and allies. Wolastoq Grand Council Chief Ron Tremblay (spasaqsit possesom) says the Wolastoq Grand Council has yet to be consulted. 

Meanwhile, the world is facing a rapidly warming planet. The partial collapse of a glacier on August 26 triggered a massive flood and landslide along the Nepal-China border, killing at least 1,337 people, with more than 5,000 still missing. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Asia is warming twice as fast as the global average, which is accelerating glacier melting and number of devastating landslides and floods. 

Decisions like the expansion of fossil fuel development impact the poorest in the world. Polimeter, a site tracking promises from the federal government, list climate finance as a key priority, but the site shows no progress. The government of Canada acknowledges that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are hardest hit by climate change and face its impacts. However, the government’s website on climate financing  shows it hasn’t been modified with a news release since November 5, 2024. 

What is Carney doing on climate change? He’s trying to throw out a lawsuit, launched by Eco-Justice on behalf of three youth and two environmental groups, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and Environmental Defence. The lawsuit asks the court to order the federal government “to revise its 2030 climate plan so that it meets its legal obligation to chart a credible, up to date course of action capable of achieving Canada’s 2030 emissions target, to protect Canadians from the worsening impacts of climate change.” Carney argues that the government is not required to take any such action. 

Canada’s climate plan was launched in 2022 by the former Trudeau Liberal government. But, under Carney, the federal government has eliminated key measures needed to meet Canada’s 2030 climate target. The lawsuit argues that not updating the climate plan violates the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. 

Back in New Brunswick, the Holt government has approved the controversial Tantramar Gas Plant by U.S.-based ProEnergy. Holt has also refused to implement a moratorium on big AI data centres, including the 390-megawatt data centre proposed by Calgary-based Beacon AI Centers and Texas-based Voltagrid’s in Lorneville outside of Saint John. The proposed Lorneville data centre would require around half of the proposed power from the Tantramar gas plant. And, the Environmental Impact Assessment says it would be New Brunswick’s third largest emitter just behind the Irving Oil refinery which is Canada’s largest oil refinery.

The provincial government and federal government clearly regard climate change as not their problem. Climate denialism at its finest. 

Lynaya Astephen is an environmental and social justice advocate based in Saint John.