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Full newsletter below including a feature in the National Observer on one of our Youth Chapter volunteers and a podcast on a proposed U.S.-Controlled gas plant in New Brunswick. But first... In economies that increasingly work for the few not the many, and where environmental destruction increasingly disconnects 'economies' from actual well-being, big (often U.S-owned.) corporations might soon be exempted from the Canadian laws that keep us safe. All as public services like pharmacare are also cut.

The Canadian Government wants to ram through oil pipelines, U.S. LNG projects, and now AI data centres. There is a difference between 'storing Canadian data' versus building out 'AI computing capacity' to generate 'slop' content. There is a need to move Canadians' data out of U.S. locations. BUT using up vital water (and data capacity) for the sake of AI-slop-machines is part of a deeply dangerous approach the Federal Government seems to have to AI technology. An approach that puts Canadian lives at risk and replaces public services with AI. While often touted as green, without adequate environmental regulation we also can't actually assess AI impacts. Elsewhere 'green-AI' claims have rung hollow.

Our Executive Director, Gretchen Fitzgerald, explains in today's introduction message how the Federal Government wants to exempt oil, gas, and AI projects from the law:

Other fact sheets of use: Wind Power, Electric Vehicles, Canada Can Go Renewable, why batteries make new gas plants and nuclear power obsolete.

You can watch / listen to the episode on The Harbinger Media Network, IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify (video), YouTube (video), or watch it on our website.

We also hear about the EcoFactors podcast which you can listen to here.

Send us your questions for the podcast and this newsletter at communications@sierraclub.ca an we will try to get back with answers in future editions.

Sofia won a Starfish Canada Climate75 Fellowship for her research showing us where we need to act to ensure our fisheries have a fighting chance.... 'I volunteer with Sierra Club Canada as their Sierra Youth Environmental Education coordinator, designing and providing education on climate change and environmental care for school children and youth in Alberta.'"

Read the full interview from Patricia Lane in Canada's National Observer.

Please Note: We are also looking for a Youth Director in our Nominations Call Below...

A Webinar Series | Part 1 Wednesday, May 28, 2026 | 1:00 PM EST · 11:00 AM MST · 10:00 AM PST Register here. 

Fourteen First Nations are now part of a legal challenge that call out these bills as unconstitutional. This webinar brings together Indigenous leaders, legal experts, and frontline water defenders to share what's at stake, what's being fought for by First Nations and civil society, and how you can get involved.

You'll hear from:

• Kate Kempton — legal counsel on the constitutional challenge, on the case and why it matters
• Ramon Kataquapit (Attiwapiskat First Nations) — on Attawapiskat frontline realities and Kerrie Blaise (Legal Advocates for Natures Defence, LAND)
• Eve Saint (Wet'suwet'en land defender) — on Indigenous-led voices organizing for a just future, rooted in the 8th Fire Prophecy

• CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands [SCC Note: one can only assume because no one in the private sector thinks it is worth buying]:

"From the moment the government of then-prime minister Justin Trudeau bought Canadian taxpayers a pipeline in 2018, a parade of Cabinet ministers and officials have insisted they did not intend for the public to be the long-term owner, and would eventually sell the pipeline to the private sector, Indigenous groups, or a combination of the two.... There’s no indication in the CP coverage that Maki explained his curious analogy between a one-off pipeline that was too big to succeed and a small, mass-produced consumer product—more comparable to solar panels, wind turbine blades, heat pumps, or storage batteries—that replicated quickly and plummeted in cost over time."

• Battery Storage Growth Surpasses New Gas Demand in 2025 by :

"The world added 110 gigawatts of new battery storage capacity last year, making batteries the fastest-growing power technology globally, the International Energy Agency wrote in its latest Global Energy Review. That was more new capacity than gas has ever added in a single year.... The IEA said solar was the largest source of new energy growth globally.... Across the Asia-Pacific region, gas demand 'effectively flatlined.'"

Read our related fact sheet on why batteries make new gas plants and nuclear (including SMRs) obsolete.

• ‘Dirty Data Centre Edition’: Big Tech Burning More Fossil Fuels Than Ever to Power AI by Jody MacPherson: 

"A new report says Big Tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are relying on gas and diesel generators to power their hyperscale artificial intelligence data centres while burying data on the facilities’ true emissions and energy use.... Another report released in February, authored by climate and energy analyst Ketan Joshi, found that 74% of industry claims about AI’s climate benefits are unproven."

• Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn (pictured) by Mitchell Beer:

"If the proposed changes become law, “we will have no way of evaluating or understanding what are the human health and environment impacts of projects we are approving,” Guilbeault added. “The main criterion to evaluate projects moving forward, if this is adopted, is going to be economic development, and nothing else will matter."

• Equinor Submits Bay du Nord Plans to Newfoundland and Labrador Energy Regulator by Sarah Smellie:

"Norwegian state fossil Equinor has submitted a development application for its proposed Bay du Nord oil project to Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy regulator."

Note: Bay du Nord comes with a 16% chance of an "extremely large" oil spill (PDF) and in the event of a well blowout oil could spill into the North Atlantic for over 18 - 36 days. It would be subsidized by the Canadian Government to the tune of up to $1 Billion.

'Now more than ever, people are feeling the pressure of rising energy costs, growing inequality, and a system that isn’t working for our communities or environment. These events are part of a growing movement to take back the power and explore how we can build an energy system that puts people first. Join us to hear from speakers, share ideas, and take collective action.'

Find out more about the events here.

Resources on how to communicate with others:

• How to Talk to Family & Others About Climate Change (updated for 2026).
• More on talking with neighbours, friends, and family on climate issues (webinar recording).
• Effective Communications on Climate Change (podcast).
• Visual communications advice on wildfires (webinar recording).

Facts Sheets:

• Wind Power Fact Sheet.
• Electric Vehicle Fact Sheet (EVs will NOT overwhelm the grid).
• Why Canada Can Go 100% Renewable.
• Renewable Energy Does NOT Need Baseload Power: why batteries make new gas plants and nuclear power obsolete.
• Industrial Carbon Pricing is NOT Driving Up Food Prices.
• Emissions Cap Fact Sheet.
• Wildfire fact sheet on causes and links to the oil and gas industry.
• Carbon Pricing Fact Sheet.
• How the Carbon Tax Got Alberta Off Coal and Could Reduce Future Wildfires (Podcast).
• Facts on Heat Pumps.
• Canada’s forests haven’t absorbed more carbon than they’ve released since 2001.
• It isn’t arson: untangling climate misinformation around Canada’s raging wildfires & climate crisis made spate of Canada wildfires twice as likely, scientists find.
• CO2 is a pollutant in the case of climate change and human caused CO2 causes climate change – it’s not just 'plant food.'
• More on other common climate myths.

Talking with others is the biggest impact you can have but be sure to prioritize talking to those on the fence about the seriousness of the climate crisis (unfortunately not everyone is open to listening). Call out oil and gas CEOs in the process!

We're stronger together. Go cause trouble.

Conor