Karen Graham, the new chair of the Resource Works Advisory Council, brings more than two decades of experience in public policy and resource-sector leadership to her new role. She is someone who understands how policy, trade and public opinion shape the future of responsible resource development.
In a recent interview on the Power Struggle podcast with host Stewart Muir, Graham offered a candid assessment of how Canada’s environmental ambition has evolved from revenue-neutral innovation to a regulatory quagmire.
The early days of climate targets
Graham’s perspective is grounded in experience. She began by looking back at how governments across Canada first drew up targets for emissions reduction.
“I had the privilege of running the Business Council of British Columbia’s environmental policy committee at the time in British Columbia that Gordon Campbell, as premier, decided to embark on climate targets,” Graham said.
She pointed to the early, pragmatic approach taken by the province.
“A hat tip to then-finance minister Carol Taylor here in British Columbia. She brought in . . . a British Columbia carbon tax that was considered revenue-neutral,” Graham noted.
From innovation to a ‘patchwork’
However, over time, that initial clarity was lost. Across Canada, what emerged was “a patchwork of regulation on climate policy” that led to a “near-freezing effect” on energy development.
The situation intensified under the federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with proposals to cap Alberta oil production and a policy stance that signaled “we should go all in on green energy.”
According to Graham, the core issue wasn’t the ambition, but the rigidity of the approach.
“What I find a challenge, in terms certainly of the way that Ottawa and some provinces have approached their definition of the clean economy . . . is they tried to let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Graham said. “If it wasn’t perfect, if it couldn’t demonstrate zero emissions now or soon, then it was shuffled to the side.”
The cost of a ‘massive mistake’
Graham argued that the federal Liberals misinterpreted their minority win in the 2021 election as a carte blanche mandate.
They took it as “an environmental mandate . . . to pursue their version of environmental and climate policy to the extent that that would continue to reshape Canada,” she said. “And I think that was a massive mistake.”
The consequence, she argued, has been a regulatory environment that stifles investment and execution.
“Have we gone too far in taking a regulatory approach that ties an industry up in knots, ties project proponents up in knots (for) a decade before they can even put a shovel in the ground?” she asked.
“And, as they are operating, an increasing patchwork of regulation that constricts their best operation, both for Canadian customers and . . . as we’re talking about natural gas, for export markets. Canada has lost a huge amount of ground over the past decade.”
Watch the video on Power Struggle
- Power Struggle audio and transcript
- Power Struggle website
- Resource Works on Karen Graham
- Stewart Muir on X
- Stewart Muir on LinkedIn
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