Canada

the current conservative Albertan government is a joke

Calgary's having a water crisis and not once have I heard that Danielle or her party is doing anything to help

Not a lawyer, but this seems (1) a ridiculous response by the Alberta Government, and (2) perhaps unnecessary wording in an amendment, since misleading claims are already covered under the Competition Act?

The amendment to the competition act reads:

(b.‍1) makes a representation to the public in the form of a statement, warranty or guarantee of a product’s benefits for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental, social and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on an adequate and proper test, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation; (b.‍2) makes a representation to the public with respect to the benefits of a business or business activity for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on adequate and proper substantiation in accordance with internationally recognized methodology, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation; or

And the current text of the Act reads:

Misrepresentations to public 74.01 (1) A person engages in reviewable conduct who, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the supply or use of a product or for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest, by any means whatever (a) makes a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect (b) makes a representation to the public in the form of a statement, warranty or guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length of life of a product that is not based on an adequate and proper test thereof, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation;

So.... my non-legal viewpoint is that making a misleading representation to the public is already covered by the competition act. The new wording clarifies the scope to explicitly include environmental misrepresentation (which seems completely fair given the amount of greenwashing we see - from consumer products through to natural resource extraction). The only potential challenge appears to be the "internationally recognized methodology", especially where a methodology doesn't exist. But in that case, perhaps companies should just refrain from making potentially misleading claims.

The Alberta government is just following its playbook once again of trying to position the feds as the enemy of Alberta... Because that's easier for them, than actually coming up with good ideas.

That legislation is Bill C-59, which would require companies to provide evidence to back up their environmental claims. It is currently awaiting royal assent.

"They're censoring conservative speech!"

You know, I'm old enough to remember when "conservative speech" didn't mean "lies".

As of Thursday, it was also what led the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canada's largest oilsands companies, to remove all its content from its website, social media and other public communications.

Their entire website was unsupported by evidence?

It sounds to me like the law is doing exactly what it was intended to do.

I wonder if this legislation had anything to do with them closing the war room?

This is the best summary I could come up with:

As of Thursday, it was also what led the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canada's largest oilsands companies, to remove all its content from its website, social media and other public communications.

On its website, Pathways cites amendments to the Competition Act that would create "significant uncertainty" for Canadian companies that "want to communicate publicly about the work they are doing to improve their environmental performance."

"With uncertainty on how the new law will be interpreted and applied, any clarity the Competition Bureau can provide through specific guidance may help direct our communications approach in the future," the website reads.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, an industry group, wrote in a statement Thursday that it would also reduce the amount of information it makes available on its website and other digital platforms, until further guidance was made available.

"Creating a public disclosure standard that is so vague as to lack meaning and that relies on undefined 'internationally recognized methodology' opens the door for frivolous litigation, particularly by private entities who will now be empowered to directly enforce this new provision of the Competition Act.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce wrote in a statement on Thursday that the amendments in Bill C-59 would limit disclosure of climate targets and ambitions to investors and financial markets.

The original article contains 1,217 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 83%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!