Elizabeth May says 'whole fossil fuel sector' must be 'shut down'

Former Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said in a tweet yesterday that Canada's fossil fuel sector needed to be "shut down" as a whole. This after the Saanich-Gulf Island MP voted for a bill that would close down oil and gas wells.

"Just voted for a bill for government help shut down oil and gas wells. We need to shut down the whole fossil fuel sector. The bill needs some work in committee but it is moving in the right direction. Money to shut down industry is not a subsidy," the tweet reads.

The bill, titled "Bill C-221, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (oil and gas wells)" or simply the Environmental Restoration Incentive Act, aims to amend the Income Tax Act "to establish a tax credit for the closure of oil and gas wells."

It also sets out a requirement for the Minister of Finance to "make an assessment respecting the implementation of possible tax incentives for the closure of oil and gas wells."

The bill, which failed to pass in a Parliamentary vote, would create a tax incentive that would, in theory, increase funds for private companies if they were to close their oil or gas wells, and would create a tax incentive that would "increase private sector funds available to close oil or gas wells, reduce the risk of oil or gas wells becoming orphaned and promote the safe and effective closure of oil or gas wells."

The vote saw 124 "Yes" votes, mainly from Conservative MPs who believed the tax incentive to be important, and 209 "No" votes between Liberal, Bloc, and NDP MPs.