The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that carbon pricing does nothing to incentivize the oil and gas sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, says Cenovus Energy chief Jon McKenzie. The Globe's Emma Graney and Marieke Walsh write that the carbon pricing deal expected this week may help finalize a memorandum of understanding from last year, which linked Ottawa's support for a potential pipeline to Alberta raising its carbon price and achieving other green goals.
Mr. McKenzie said a carbon tax only works when costs can be passed down to consumers, who see a higher price and reduce their consumption, thereby decreasing demand for the product in question.
That's not the case with oil and gas, he said. "We compete in a global market, so the products that we sell get a global price. We're not able to pass that along to the consumers."
Mr. McKenzie said a carbon price is a cost of doing business that has to be incorporated into any investment decision.
But when it's combined with the effects of various federal policies he said it presents "an incredibly complicated policy framework that makes investments in Canada difficult and non-competitive with other countries, like the U.S. and countries in Asia."
© 2026 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.