Ottawa, ON – Carol Anstey, Conservative Shadow Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, released the following statement on the Liberals’ illusion about increasing oil production:

“After the Liberals promised to supply 23.6 million extra barrels of oil, Statistics Canada data now shows that in reality, Canada produced 5 million fewer barrels the month after Tim Hodgson’s announcement. This comes after Carney’s energy minister admitted ‘the government is not using any legislative, regulatory or policy instruments to contribute’ to the IEA’s stockpile release.

“As the conflict in the Middle East skyrocketed the price of oil, Canadians were looking for action that would deliver affordability. In response, Conservatives announced our Emergency Energy Supply Plan to unblock our oil and gas, fuel our friends and power stronger take-home pay here at home.

“A week later, Carney’s energy minister announced the Liberals would increase oil production by 23.6 million barrels. Now, Hodgson has admitted that it was all an illusion. Responding to an Order Paper Question, Hodgson revealed that ‘no regulatory changes, exemptions or directives were issued to increase production, transportation or export capacity.’

“That’s no surprise given Canada is the only G7 country without an oil stockpile to release from, and Carney has explicitly rejected Conservative calls for a Strategic Energy and Minerals Reserve. But not only did Canada not release oil from a reserve, oil production also fell 3.4 per cent in the first month of Q2.

“Canada, with our vast reserves of oil and natural gas, should have been the answer by helping to stabilize global markets, support our allies and grow our economy. Instead, under Carney, the result was being left out of responding to the oil price crisis, and failing to live up to our promise on ‘increasing crude oil production.’

“If we want to move from rhetoric to reality, we need to adopt the policies that will unlock our energy production, including repealing the anti-development laws C-69 and C-48, scrapping the industrial carbon tax and getting projects approved within six months. That’s how Conservatives will get out of the way, get shovels in the ground and get our resources to market.”