How does the CEO of the world’s largest oil sand producer sleep at night? Apparently just fine.That was the question put to Suncor CEO Rich Kruger during a House of Commons environment and sustainable committee meeting in Ottawa — ostensibly to explore ways government and industry can cooperate to reduce the emissions footprint of the oil sands sector.But cooperation was the last thing on NDP environment critic Laurel Collins had in mind after she and cohort Charlie Angus on Thursday flatly asserted that oil executives, including Kruger, are fiddling while the planet burns.“These rich oil and gas executives have been raking in record profits, fuelling the climate crisis, and yet still continue to come to government cap in hand, asking for more handouts,” she said.."I appreciate your desire to create headlines, point fingers and attempt to villainize the industry... when you do that, you're actually attacking hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work hard to provide energy to this country."Suncor CEO Rich Kruger.“How do you sleep at night?” she asked the Suncor boss, point blank."Other than my sleeping patterns, I don't know how to answer that question," Kruger answered.But Collins persisted, insisting that it wasn’t a “rhetorical question.”"I appreciate your desire to create headlines, point fingers and attempt to villainize the industry," Kruger replied. "But what I would say, when you do that, you're actually attacking hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work hard to provide energy to this country."In his opening remarks Kruger said, “Canadians expect more from their political and business leaders than pointing fingers and clinging to ideology. They expect their leaders to roll up their sleeves and work together.”“The world will not consume one less barrel of oil simply because Canada chooses not to provide it. That barrel will come from somewhere else. In most cases, somewhere with less commitment to responsible development, democratic ideals, social accountability, and climate action. How do I know? I’ve worked in many of (those) countries.”.Luckily, Kruger had a few supporters on the committee. Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek, defended a sector he said underpins the national economy and employs more than 400,000 Canadians."It boggles my mind how Liberals, NDP and the Bloc can sleep at night when they want to put my constituents out of work," he said. But Kruger wasn’t the only C-Suite executive on the hot seat.Imperial Oil CEO Brad Corson complained that an emissions cap is unneeded because Canada already has high standards for environmental protection. "I've worked all over the world and Canada has one of the most stringent regulations of the places that I worked in… which is why when it comes to something like an emissions cap, I think it's unnecessary," said Corson. "There's plenty of other vehicles and requirements in place."Canadian oil and gas producers made about $60 billion in profits last year and generated more than $270 billion in revenues, or about 10% of the country’s gross domestic product. Cenovus Energy CEO Jon McKenzie noted the boom and bust nature of the oil and gas industry and suggested “a strong oil and gas sector is good for Canadians," because it allows investments in areas like emissions reduction.That said, the oil industry still accounts for about a third of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2005 absolute emissions have risen about 11% even though all other sectors — especially electricity — have fallen. That said, emissions per barrel have fallen about 20% even as production has nearly doubled to five million barrels per day.Those are expected to peak by 2030 and gradually start dropping as technologies like carbon capture are introduced.And despite all the vilification, Suncor’s Kruger said he still supports emissions reduction, and even carbon taxes on industry because they “drive the innovation, the economic incentives, on all of our parts to continue to improve our business.”
