The future of Canada’s oil and gas industry – a major employer in the country and especially in oil-rich Alberta – is at stake in Monday’s federal election, in which climate change is a key theme alongside the impacts of the pandemic on the Canadian economy. The snap election, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberals called in hopes of capitalizing on his handling of the COVID emergency, is too close to call, polls showed a day before the vote.

As climate change is increasingly taking center stage in every election in major Western oil and gas producers, as it did in Norway earlier this month, the stakes for Canada’s energy industry are high.

If voters choose more of the same, giving Trudeau a win, another government led by the Liberals would demand stricter federal rules from the oil and gas sector to cut emissions, while new oil pipeline projects are unlikely to be supported. But if the Conservatives were to win, Canada’s oil industry could get a boost from a pro-oil federal government. Stocks in major energy companies would also benefit from a Conservative win and could be primed for a relief rally, Michael Bellusci of Bloomberg News notes…read more.