Energy Sector Council Position on Tariffs

Secure Canada’s energy and energy product supply chains

Unifor is mobilizing an economy-wide fightback against U.S. tariffs on Canadian products with sector specific analyses.

A key component of the campaign is working with the federal government and the provinces to provide a bold policy options that would protect Canadian jobs and support workers impacted by the economic consequences of an irrational and aggressive American trade war.

Unifor Energy Council, representing 15,000 members working in oil and gas extraction, natural gas distribution, electric utilities, and petroleum refineries has adopted the following position on U.S. tariffs.

By keeping the pressure on Canadian policymakers, we can ensure that the transport of energy, energy products, and electricity to value-added production centers—including refineries, chemical, plastics, mid-stream utilization, and storage—is sustainable, secure, and safe for travel throughout Canada.

Unifor is calling for the government and industry to:

• Recognize the reliance of production inputs on the oil, gas, sustainable biofuel sectors, and the electricity sector.
• Address the national security vulnerability of energy transport pipelines, rail, and truck through the United States by fully mapping in-Canada transport options.
• Assert Canadian regulatory sovereignty over energy and energy products that provide inputs to downstream domestic production.
• Diversify inter-provincial transport infrastructure options to overcome geographical barriers to east-west energy movement by connecting industrial programs.
• Maintain and grow Canadian production, supply chains, and procurement of nuclear power and isotopes to ensure Canada’s energy security and maximize economic benefits.

Unifor’s industrial strategy goals support:

• Value-added production along the energy supply chain and develop industrial strategies for satisfying industrial and residential energy demand.
• A program to develop expanded domestic supply chain security of inputs from oil, gas, biofuels, and electricity generation, including nuclear energy.
• Establish a Canadian energy and energy products transport system that connects all provinces without transport through the USA.
• The strengthening of sustainable domestic supply chains in the short term and ensure new investments meet medium to long-term transport security, sustainability policy goals, and commercial viability.
• Continued development and implementation of regulations on emissions across the supply chain, particularly methane release.
• Addressing potential risks to Canadian production and exports from the threat of high total emissions of inputs, especially their use as a non-tariff barriers to trade.
• Investment in sustainable production through continued research by national research institutes supporting industrial investment in emissions reduction across the energy and energy products sector.

Keep it in the Pipe Campaign

Unifor’s Keep it in the Pipe campaign is especially important in the current tariff conflict with the USA when it comes to keeping good jobs in the energy sector and diversifying our export economy.

1. If Canada does not have a plan to reduce emissions all the way along this supply chain, our producers will not have the ability to make low-emission energy products.
2. Methane emissions across our energy infrastructure is going to be important in accessing a more diverse market. Regions will likely use emissions as a non-tariff barrier for trade in products.
3. Many of our employers have invested in infrastructure to meet these guidelines. Uncertainty on emission guidelines will be detrimental to their competitiveness.
4. Canadian policy options already present solutions to short-term costs to investment if that investment meets certain criteria on emissions. These supports can be further developed to ensure reduction in total emissions of downstream product.
5. Forcing investment in methane emissions reduction is a way to keep those energy revenues (especially at American owned firms) in Canada through job creation. It takes investment and employment to ensure that methane is not leaking out of our extraction, transmission, distribution, and production infrastructure.
6. Energy workers are necessary to ensure we have no accidents that undermine the industry as they make major shifts in direction of flow of energy products.

Link: Government methane regulations 

About the Energy Council

Unifor is Canada’s premier energy union, with nearly 15,000 members working in oil and gas extraction, natural gas distribution, electric utilities, and petroleum refineries. More than half of Unifor’s energy sector members work in the Prairies region while just over a quarter work in Ontario. British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland together account for approximately one-fifth of Unifor’s energy sector membership.  

The Unifor Energy Council represents the local unions, bargaining units and membership of Unifor in the energy sector, including but not limited to oil refineries, gas plants, oil sands, offshore oil production, marketing, gas distribution, power generation, pipelines, petro-chemical plants and exploration.

Unifor’s energy sector members make up around 4.5% of the union’s total membership, and more than half of all Unifor energy sector members are concentrated among the five largest employers in the sector.