Carney’s Net-Zero Advisers Say the Process Became Performative

If expert advice was ignored while major policy shifted, Canadians deserve the advice, meeting logs and legal compliance record.

Mark Carney sold himself as the grown-up in the room: banker, technocrat, climate-finance expert, evidence-based manager. That brand now has a receipts problem.

On June 9, Catherine Abreu and Simon Donner appeared before the House environment committee after resigning from the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body. CityNews, carrying The Canadian Press, reported that both had resigned after accusing the Carney government of not seeking the body’s advice on key decisions, including the Alberta energy deal and the major projects bill. Donner told MPs the process had begun to feel “performative,” because the advisory body had little or no chance for its work to inform policy.

This is not a demand to bring back every Liberal climate policy. Conservatives can oppose carbon taxes, reject command-and-control mandates, and still insist that statutory advisory machinery not become theatre. If Parliament creates an expert body, ministers should not use it as window dressing while decisions move through PMO, cabinet and intergovernmental deal-making without a clear advice trail.

The legal issue is straightforward enough for taxpayers to understand. The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act created the Net-Zero Advisory Body in 2021. The law says the body’s mandate is to provide independent advice to the environment minister on reaching net-zero by 2050, including targets, emissions-reduction plans and measures the government could implement. It also says the minister must take the body’s submissions and annual-report advice into account when setting targets and establishing emissions-reduction plans.

That does not mean advisers get a veto. It means the government owes a paper trail. If Carney’s government changed course on industrial pricing, clean electricity rules, methane, electric-vehicle mandates, fossil-fuel supports, the Alberta deal, or the major projects bill, Canadians should be able to see what advice was requested, what advice was received, who read it, and whether the emissions plan was amended or left to drift.

The Narwhal reported that Donner said the government refused offers to hear their advice and cancelled a high-level meeting at the last minute. The same report said the advisers told MPs they were left uninformed of new policy directions while previous advice was ignored. The Pointer reported that Abreu and Donner appeared before MPs to explain why they left the advisory body created to guide Canada toward the legally binding 2050 target.

Steven Guilbeault’s exit from politics adds context, not proof. Le Monde reported that he planned to leave politics after disagreements with Carney’s climate direction and Ottawa’s shift toward fossil-fuel development and major energy projects. The point is narrower: a government that claims competence should not be afraid of its own files.

Carney does not have to obey activists. He does have to obey transparency. Publish the advice. Publish the logs. Publish the compliance record.