OTTAWA, ON (October 8, 2025):
Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to “build, baby, build,” the federal government – with the complicity of certain environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) – continues to obstruct economic development, clinging to a rigid “green energy” dogma that stifles and undermines national prosperity.
In Constraining Canada: The costs of environmental idealism, Senior Fellow and Director of Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment Heather Exner-Pirot reveals how these environmental groups have worked to slow down or block development projects in Canada.
Exner-Pirot argues that the federal government must act now to rein in their power and influence. That means imposing limits on taxpayer support, strengthening oversight, and enacting legal reforms to stop ENGOs from weaponizing regulations and litigation to block projects that serve Canada’s economic and public interests.
“Environmental organizations have every right to adopt and advocate for their preferred positions,” notes Exner-Pirot. “The problem lies in the extent to which the federal government has accommodated their often extreme interests… [it] has not only produced poor policy outcomes; it has led, predictably, to spending abuses, waste, and a dearth of accountability.”
Exner-Pirot notes that the anti-fossil fuels ideology embraced by ENGOs is increasingly being rejected by Canadians from across the country. Most Canadians want Ottawa and the provinces to work with Indigenous peoples to build new energy infrastructure and boost economic growth. This makes it all the more urgent for ENGOs to rethink their harmful tactics, and for the federal government to stop funding or enabling their anti-development efforts.
“Many are waiting for such a return to sanity to come to Canada,” Exner-Pirot says.
“It is no longer acceptable for the ideological preferences of the few to use our liberal democratic values and processes to stymie the economic aspirations of the many.”
To learn more, read the full paper here:
Heather Exner-Pirot is a senior fellow and director of Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
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Skander.belouizdad@macdonaldlaurier.ca
