This story is Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre has said the next election will be a “carbon tax election,” but his camp is not alone in calling for an end to Canada’s carbon pricing policy.
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (IJF) analyzed social media ads from the past year to see who shares Poièvre’s “abolish taxes” mantra. Aside from politicians and political parties, the biggest spenders are organizations most Canadians have never heard of.
A social media page called Energy United describes it as a grassroots campaign in support of Canada’s oil and gas industry. Despite claiming to be a grassroots movement, the campaign has ties to the nation’s largest fossil fuel industry advocacy groups and spends millions on social media ads denouncing federal carbon pricing.
The campaign will spend between $135,200 and $174,435 on 65 Facebook and Instagram ads run between November 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024, including carbon tax ads in the past year. The amount spent on was the fourth largest. Meta estimates that up to 16.5 million people viewed Energy United’s ads.
Other notable spenders include the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which describes itself as a “not-for-profit citizens’ organization dedicated to lowering taxes, reducing waste, and responsible government.” Carbon tax advertising was the seventh-highest spender over the past year.
The three biggest spenders on carbon tax ads on Meta’s platform in the past year were Pierre Poièvre’s Facebook page, which spent between $287,600 and $379,539, followed by the Ontario PC Party, which spent between $191,000 and $240,560. ), and the Conservative Party of Canada ($152,600 to $240,560). ($201,825).
Shane Ganster, a professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication, said pro-oil groups that spend millions on advertising promoting the policy are not only using political messages to condemn the carbon tax; “The Conservative Party is gaining ground politically and emotionally,” he said. exploit [it] Very effective. ”
He said these groups “are involved in enabling Mr. Poilievre and the Conservatives to turn this into a ‘carbon tax election,’ as well as capitalizing on conservative efforts.” Ta.
Who is Energy United?
Energy United’s ads include, “This summer, help us make 
more affordable for you and your family. Help us eliminate the carbon tax,” and “
Boats Make Money.” It is characterized by phrases such as “It’s like a hole in water when you throw it into it.” A carbon tax takes money away from you. ”
According to its website, the Energy United campaign was created by a federally registered nonprofit organization called the Maple Leaf Institute (MLI), which is registered to lobby the federal government.
The Maple Leaf Institute has little online presence but is led by a team with strong ties to oil sands advocacy group Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Saskatchewan Party.
Our institute’s four director Tim Harold McMillan, Cole David Schultz, Samantha Yaholnitsky, and Dale Richardson.
Mr. McMillan served as President and CEO of CAPP from 2015 to 2022. Prior to joining CAPP, he served as Minister of Energy and Resources and Minister of Rural and Telehealth for the Province of Saskatchewan.
He currently serves on the board of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and runs the public relations firm Garrison Strategy with fellow Maple Leaf Institute director Cole David Schultz.
Prior to starting Garrison Strategy, Schultz served as Vice President of Communications at CAPP. He served as chief of staff to McMillan when he was Saskatchewan’s Minister of Energy and as special advisor to McMillan when he was CAPP president.
Richardson and Yaholnitsky worked for the Saskatchewan government at the same time as McMillan and Schultz.
Mr. Yaholnitsky most recently served as campaign manager for former Saskatchewan Party minister Gordon Wyant’s unsuccessful Saskatoon mayoral bid.
Jarrett Coles, Campaign Director for the Energy United Campaign, served as CAPP’s Strategic Communications Manager from 2019 to 2023. He worked for the Government of Saskatchewan from 2010 to 2019.
What about Coles? owner another Website The group, called A Better YXE, describes itself as a grassroots movement and has run dozens of meta ads about Saskatoon city politics, including during the recent municipal election.
Although A Better YXE says it is not affiliated with any political party, Mr. Yaholnitsky previously acknowledged that he was involved with the page before leaving to work on Mr. Wyant’s campaign.
Coles and Richardson were also involved with the Canadian Growth Council, a third-party advertising organization that ran the Manitoba Watch campaign during the 2023 provincial election.
This group is large amount of text Misrepresented the NDP’s position on policing and harm reduction to Manitoba voters. The Canadian Growth Council previously coordinated a similar campaign during the 2019 federal election.
Neither Energy United nor Coles nor the directors of Maple Leaf Institute responded to requests for comment.
Simon Enoch, director of the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, said that when he saw Energy United’s message, he was “striked” by how closely the campaign “reflected the Saskatchewan government’s talking points pretty closely.” he told IJF. Time and again we hear the exact same thing from this government. ”
plant seeds
Several other groups with unclear ownership were among the highest spenders and advertisers on carbon taxes.
Affordability Advocates is a Facebook page with less than 200 followers, but has spent between $54,900 and $73,388.00 on ads, making it the 6th most spent since November 1, 2023.
Fair Share Report and Debunk Inc. are also on the top 20 list for ad spending, and both groups post content that violates environmental regulations.
It’s almost impossible to know how effective a single social media advertising campaign is at changing public opinion, but Abacus data public opinion poll A January 2024 survey found that 47 per cent of Canadians surveyed believed the carbon tax was responsible for widespread price increases for multiple products.
Gordon Laxer, professor emeritus of political economy at the University of Alberta, said the seeds of a grassroots-style communication strategy were planted more than a decade ago when Canada’s oil and gas industry feared losing a public opinion battle with environmentalists. He said that he was attacked.
He said major Canadian oil industry players were advised by their U.S. counterpart at the American Petroleum Institute to mobilize support from ordinary Canadians in addition to traditional lobbying efforts.
This marketing method appears to be an effective strategy.
Ganster said he looked into oil and gas industry messages on social media and found that corporate communications from fossil fuel companies like Cenovus and Enbridge received little attention.
But what was gaining traction online were what Ganster calls “memes,” posts that consist of graphics and quotes, or very simple one- or two-sentence talking points.
These types of posts contain simple language and graphics that get to the heart of the fears of oil and gas industry supporters, and are a common theme among the biggest spenders analyzed.
“What they actually did very effectively was take a certain industry worldview and fragment it or boil it down to maybe 50 talking points,” Ganster said. spoke. “And it was very easy to share them.”
Seeing information shared by a friend, uncle, or parent not only increases the credibility of that information, but also makes you realize that by sharing this content, these people are becoming champions for this kind of perspective. building social and political identities.”
Ganster said Facebook appears to be the “platform of choice” and “the primary mechanism of distribution.” For this kind of oil industry support groups and the conservative right in Canada.
Energy United also has multiple active ads on Google, but that platform does not report spending or ad reach.
