Involvement in policy discussions

Our approach

We participate with all levels of government in the development of policy on issues affecting our industry and Canadians. We strive for policy that recognizes broad public interests and is based on sound science, cost-benefit analysis and market-based approaches.

We act directly or through a range of industry associations such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI). Our advocacy efforts include face-to-face meetings, multi-stakeholder consultations, representation at committee hearings, and responses to information requests. We register company representatives who communicate with governments as required by provincial and federal lobby legislation.

What we are doing

We are contributing to public policy development on a number of important energy and environmental issues:

Climate change

In Canada, governments are trying to develop and implement policies to control emissions of GHGs, including those from the use of hydrocarbon energy. Imperial continues to be actively engaged in offering comments on policy proposals and working with federal and provincial governments through industry associations and direct representation.

As part of climate change policy development, California and other states and provinces are introducing, or planning to introduce, low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS).  These are intended to promote the use of transportation fuels with lower GHG emissions on a full life-cycle basis, but may act to discourage the use of oil-sands-derived products.  It should be noted that independent research has shown that oil-sands-derived products can have full life-cycle emissions in line with various other major crudes. As well, oil sands production is subject to regulatory control of its GHG emissions. Together with industry associations, researchers and governments, we supported and participated in a multi-stakeholder workshop to better understand the challenges in implementing LCFS and to discuss how oil-sands-derived products could be fairly treated under LCFS.

Air quality

We take an active part in multi-stakeholder forums that enable us to work with other interest groups to address air quality issues in a collaborative manner.

The major effort in 2009 was the development of a Comprehensive Air Management System (CAMS) for review by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment in 2010. The overarching objective of the CAMS proposal is to achieve improved air quality and significant health and environmental benefits across Canada. The multi-stakeholder partnership involved more than 300 representatives from industry, federal and provincial governments, and non-governmental organizations. Imperial co-chaired and participated in many of the CAMS subcommittees.

Also in 2009, Imperial initiated and led an industry coalition to partner with governments and non-governmental organizations to enhance the use of photo-chemical air quality models. These computer models are used to forecast the potential reduction in smog formation from reduced air pollutant emissions. The industry coalition was most active in Alberta and is planning to extend support to other provinces and the federal government in 2010.

Land use planning

Under Alberta’s new Land Use Framework, regional advisory committees are responsible for providing advice to the provincial government on the development of land use plans for seven identified regions. Imperial represents CAPP on the Community Advisory Board for the Lower Athabasca region, an area covering more than a dozen communities from the regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to the Bonnyville-Cold Lake region. The plan is expected to identify and set resource and environmental management outcomes for air, land, water and biodiversity, and guide future resource decisions. Membership in the committee includes a cross-section of interests from governments, industry, Aboriginal communities and environmental groups. The committee submitted recommendations to the government in early 2010. The government intends to finalize the regional plan for the Lower Athabasca region by the end of 2010 after final public consultation.