r/NovaScotiaTimes • u/Chance_Account_4338 • 2h ago
Meet the guy behind Nova Scotia's onshore gas push - a Calgary oil exec with a long record of fighting climate policy
I was reminded of this article the other day when I saw that the provincial government is in talks with this guy. FYI, Alberta-based Questerre Energy is set to "explore" for onshore natural gas in the Cumberland Basin.
Unfortunately the company says it's in "the final stages" of negotiations. This is part of a $30-million provincial initiative with about $24 million in incentives for developers.
The CEO is Michael Binnion, and Environmental Defence just named him one of Canada's "Top Ten Climate Villains".
Some highlights from Binnion's career, worth knowing before we hand this guy millions in public money for fossil fuel projects:
- He founded a pro-fossil-fuel advocacy group run out of Questerre's own offices, with Questerre employees as directors. The Modern Miracle Network exists to celebrate "the miracle of modern hydrocarbons" and organize opposition to climate regulations.
- He's bankrolled astroturf groups - fake-grassroots outfits that look like community movements but are industry-funded. MMN helped set up New Brunswick Proud and pushed oil companies to fund "Québec Fier" during elections. These are the same networks behind "Canada Proud."
- He organized oil-worker convoys to Ottawa years ago - which observers describe as trial runs for the Freedom Convoy.
- He fought Quebec's fracking ban, then sued Quebec over its 2022 oil and gas exploration ban - even after the province covered 75% of cleanup costs and paid out $100 million in compensation. He got key provisions of the ban suspended while the court case drags on.
- He's spent years trying to kill the federal carbon tax, described as "relentless, publicly and privately" in that campaign.
- He sits on the boards of free-market advocacy groups tied to the Atlas Network, which pushes against government climate action.
Meanwhile he pulls a compensation package north of $620,000 a year, about 8.5× the average Canadian salary.
My point: this isn't someone whose priority is Nova Scotians. It's someone whose business model depends on keeping us hooked on fossil fuels, and he's about to get a foothold in our province with public money behind him.
Worth paying attention to what happens next.
