NDP bill would prescribe jail terms for speaking well of fossil fuels

NDP bill would prescribe jail terms for speaking well of fossil fuels

C-372, also known as the Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, was tabled Monday as a private member’s bill by NDP MP Charlie Angus

An NDP bill is seeking to criminalize the “promotion” of fossil fuels, and prescribe jail time even for Canadians who say scientifically true things such as how burning natural gas is cleaner than burning coal.

C-372, also known as the Fossil Fuel Advertising Act, was tabled Monday as a private member’s bill by Charlie Angus, the MP for Timmins-James Bay and a longtime member of the NDP caucus.

“Today, I am proud to rise and introduce a bill that would make illegal false advertising by the oil and gas industry,” Angus announced in the House of Commons.

He added that the oil and gas sector was trafficking in “disinformation” and “killing people.” Angus also twice framed his bill as the dawn of the industry’s “big tobacco moment” — an apparent reference to Canada’s blanket federal ban on tobacco advertising.

But C-372 goes well beyond merely banning advertising by oil and gas companies.

As a private member’s bill introduced by the member of a party with only 25 seats in the House of Commons, Bill C-372 has almost zero chance of passing. But as written, the act would technically apply to any Canadian who is found to be speaking well of the oil industry, or of oil generally.

“It is prohibited for a person to promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of a fossil fuel,” reads the act.