Canada should not end its Arctic drilling ban, warns former environment minister

Résumé détaillé

As the federal government opens the door to lifting Canada's moratorium on Arctic oil-and-gas drilling, a former environment minister says it's not worth the risk.

As the federal government opens the door to lifting Canada's moratorium on Arctic oil-and-gas drilling, a former environment minister says it's not worth the risk.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed news reports that he's consulting with northern governments and Indigenous communities about whether to keep the ban in place.

Finance Department spokesperson Marie-France Faucher told the Toronto Star that $11 million earmarked in the federal budget for Arctic offshore oil-and-gas governance is, in part, for "consideration of potentially lifting the current moratorium."

But at this point, Carney says, it's "absolutely not in any way, shape or form a decision about lifting the moratorium. It is a respectful engagement."

Steven Guilbeault, who served as Canada's environment minister between 2021 and 2025, says Arctic drilling is a bad idea. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

Mark Carney says this is all just about consultation with northern communities to find out what they think about potentially lifting this moratorium, this drilling ban. What's wrong with that?

If that's all that it is, then I'm a very happy person. Unfortunately, in the Toronto Star article … there is a finance official who says, on record, that it is potentially to open up oil-and-gas exploration and exploitation in the Arctic.

Budget's offshore gas funding 'absolutely not' a decision to lift Arctic drilling moratorium, Carney says

For you, what are the biggest risks to opening up the western Arctic to oil and gas, potentially?

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