On June 19, Bill C-59 passed final reading. One of its provisions includes amendments to the Competition Act that will allow greenwashing laws to apply to corporate statements about their environmental commitments, including statements about their actions to combat climate change. The bill passed because, fortunately, all of our political parties recognize that truth in advertising is a critical aspect of protecting consumers and investors.
But on the same day, something strange happened. The New Pathways Alliance, a consortium of six of the world’s largest oil sands producers, deleted all content from its website and social media, saying that changes to the Competition Act meant it was no longer sure what it could say about its actions on climate change.
Several other oil industry players quickly followed suit, most notably the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canada’s largest oil lobby group, which posted a statement on its website saying that “this legislation has the effect of silencing the energy industry.”
If the industry feels “silenced” by being forced to tell the truth, then that proves why we need this law. We don’t want companies to be able to make false or misleading claims, especially those that have a significant impact on our health, such as food or pharmaceutical companies, and industries that have a huge impact on the environment, such as oil and gas companies.
The amendments proposed in Bill C-59 set a clear standard for what a business can say: it must be able to prove that it is true. The requirement to prove that what you say is true is not a radical new requirement. It is a normal part of how our legal and government systems, and indeed our society as a whole, work. Proving the truth of your claims is not new to competition law, but there are now clearer standards and tougher penalties for misleading claims and proven lies.
Nor is this new on the international scene. Many countries have similar standards for environmental claims, making them an important consideration for trade and investment. The Competition Bureau has already committed to providing guidance on sustainability claims, such as the US Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides and the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s Green Claims Code.
It is disappointing, but not surprising, that legislative changes aimed at combating greenwashing mean that some companies will have to change their websites, social media channels and advertising simply to tell the truth. What is surprising, however, is that these fossil fuel industry players were willing to publicly admit that these changes would have a substantial impact on what they are allowed to say.
This isn’t the first time New Pathways Alliance has changed its website claims. In the fall of 2022, it featured images of clear blue skies and statements like “Let’s get this straight” and “We’re helping Canada meet its climate goals.” And in 2023, it added another layer by claiming that its member companies are “making great strides toward net-zero emissions.” This led Greenpeace Canada to file a complaint with the Competition Bureau alleging that New Pathways Alliance’s large-scale advertising campaign contained false and misleading claims, prompting an investigation into their veracity.
As the investigation progressed, the Alliance began removing environmental claims from its website until only one remained: “Canada’s oil sands are on track to achieve net-zero emissions from operations.” The addition of the phrase “from operations” is particularly telling because the industry’s plans to achieve net-zero emissions, even if viable, do not include the 80% of its emissions that come from the downstream use of its products.
But why are these organizations suggesting that they won’t say anything if they can’t lie? If these changes are truly a concern for companies, this law was more than necessary. If removing online content is an attention-getting tactic, it hasn’t worked. On June 20, following media reports about its removal, New Pathways Alliance changed the message on its website to clarify that the removal of its content “is unrelated to our beliefs about the truth and accuracy of our environmental communications.”
Truth in advertising is not a complicated issue. If telling the truth means you can’t talk about your industry, then the problem isn’t the law, but the lies being spread within that industry.