By Gina Pappano

It is typical of people like Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who have spent significant time on either side of the increasingly porous border between the public and private sectors, that they have amassed a variety of side-appointments to various public and private entities, corporate boards and governmental and quasi-governmental advisory boards.

Upon presenting himself as a candidate for the Liberal leadership in mid-January, Carney resigned from all these business and government appointments. But he couldn’t and cannot resign from the corporate, government and elite agendas underlying these roles. They are the grounding for his positions on industry, finance, and economics, and — unless he is utterly opportunistic, which would raise another set of problems — will form the basis for his policies as prime minister and the direction of our country as long as he’s in office.

Perhaps the most prominent ideological goal for Carney over the years, particularly in his roles as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, and as co-chair and creator of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ), has been net zero. Net zero requires a singular focus on decarbonization and an attempt to build, by 2050, a zero-carbon economy, meaning in practice the phasing out of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. In Carney’s own words, GFANZ is “relentlessly, ruthlessly, absolutely focused on the transition to net zero.” I would add “recklessly” to that list.

Through GFANZ, Carney sought to reshape the global financial system along environmentalist lines. Carney lobbied banks, insurance companies and investment management firms around the world to sign up to GFANZ, and pressured companies to enact strict climate disclosures that would enable GFANZ members to, as Carney himself described it in 2024 testimony for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, “decide who to lend to or invest in and who to avoid.”

The word “decide” makes it all sound entirely voluntary, but the fact is GFANZ members had to commit to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century or sooner. The conscious co-ordination that resulted persuaded the Judiciary Committee that what was going on constituted a “testimony” that would only lend or invest in companies that had committed to net zero, even if companies that didn’t meet this criterion would be better investments. Use of the word “cartel” panicked many major financial institutions, which have since withdrawn from GFANZ.

In its essentials, Carney’s project — which began to implode right around the time he announced his run for the Liberal leadership — was all about pushing financial institutions to put the net-zero ideology ahead of their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders.

With his selection as Liberal leader and therefore prime minister, Carney has risen to the top of what Benjamin Disraeli famously called “the greasy pole” of politics. If voters let him stay there, he will be in a unique position to promote the net-zero agenda. But that would be disastrous for Canada. Oil and gas remains one of our most productive and prosperity-generating sectors. Nothing exists in Canada without abundant, reliable and affordable hydrocarbon energy — not mining, steel, manufacturing, cement, agriculture, forestry, plastics, petrochemicals, autos, transportation, aviation — you name it.

Nor is net zero likely to help the environment in any meaningful way, either. The demand for hydrocarbon energy is projected to keep rising over the next several decades. If Mark Carney’s preferred course of action succeeds in eliminating production in Canada, or, say, in Britain’s North Sea, well, that’s a huge boon to petro-states around the world that aren’t known for their commitment to either environmental stewardship or human rights.

Last year’s U.S. election demonstrated Americans’ interest in drilling their way to prosperity. Although President Donald Trump might be happy to see Canada withdraw as a competitor in his quest for energy dominance, we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. But Carney is showing no signs of backing away from net zero. He has zeroed out the consumer carbon tax but doubled down on the (hidden) industrial carbon tax and he has reaffirmed his commitment to the emissions caps on the oil and gas industry, a continuation of Justin Trudeau’s war on the natural resources sectors.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Carney is a true believer, after all, and these policies are consistent with his entire career. At GFANZ his position amounted to putting the net-zero ideology above the interests of shareholders. It isn’t a stretch to imagine that his policies as prime minister will amount to putting net zero above the interests of Canadians and Canada itself. Net zero first, Canada second.

Gina Pappano is executive director of InvestNow.

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