Media Statement: For Immediate Release, Friday, December 6th, 2024

Recent polling by Abacus Data shows the majority of Canadians aware of the policy, 67%, think the emissions cap will have either a significant or some impact on climate goals. Further, 65% percent either support it or say their support will be determined in how it is implemented, while only 32% actually oppose it. 

That’s true even in Alberta where only 45% of people actually oppose the cap and 51% either support it or think it’s a question of implementation. In Atlantic Canada only 22% of people oppose it, with 78% either in support or saying it's a matter of implementation. Sierra Club Canada says the data shows Canadians want a well implemented policy and it's time to put aside divisions and perfect the emissions cap.

“This data should be an invitation to the Alberta government - come to the table around implementation. Let’s work together to make this a climate policy for everyone,” says Conor Curtis, Head of Communications at Sierra Club Canada. 

Following Alberta’s emissions cap ad campaign, only 50% of Canadians were aware of the policy.

“The Alberta Government’s misinformation campaign was a pretty big waste of Alberta taxpayer dollars. After spending seven million dollars of taxpayer money on a misinformation campaign you’d expect more than 50% of the population to know what the policy is and you’d at least expect a majority of Albertans to definitively oppose it. Neither of those things happened and that says that fighting the cap isn't productive.” adds Curtis. 

The actual message that this cap would wipe out Canadian prosperity has not worked says Sierra Club Canada, while Canadians are concerned about national unity, that’s tied with 47% of Canadians either think the emissions cap is step forward for climate action or see it as a necessary compromise. 

“So let’s come together then and do an emissions cap for the climate that represents an actual way forward,” says Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director of Sierra Club Canada. “The Alberta government should seek compromise rather than conflict. Canada needs that now more than ever and we are happy to come to the table to figure out a way forward.”

Media can find the data here: https://abacusdata.ca/what-do-canadians-think-about-the-emissions-cap-on-the-oil-gas-sector/

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