Today, we’re bringing you the final profile in our series about the Top Ten Climate Villains in Canada. We’re spotlighting Micheal Binnion, the Mastermind of Petro Populism, who has worked for decades to embed support for fossil fuels in the highest levels of the Canadian government.  

This series of satirical CVs for climate villains has helped reveal the names and faces of the corporate elite championing the fossil fuel industry. With these profiles, we hope to reinforce the public’s understanding that there are people with massive wealth and power who are trying to keep us hooked on their polluting fossil fuel products and advocate against climate policies, escalating the climate crisis. We hope that by highlighting the individuals, not just the companies, profiting from climate crises, you can better identify their bias in op-eds, public attacks on climate policies, or political endorsements.

There are many more fossil fuel profiteers and enablers who didn’t make it onto Environmental Defence’s list of the top ten worst climate villains. But, if you’ve followed this series or explored our website, you may have noticed some common tactics they use. This year, we’ll take a closer look at these strategies, including greenwashing, influencing governments, hindering the energy transition, and keeping us reliant on fossil fuel infrastructure. In 2025, we’ll be unveiling their playbook to expose how they operate in order to help everyone better understand the fossil fuel industry’s influence.

But that’s not all—we also know that people across Canada are taking action and fighting back. This year, we’ll also share inspiring stories of people who have stood up to the fossil fuel industry and won. We’ll also highlight the solutions within our reach that can reduce the industry’s hold on our future, showing that positive change is possible.

• Modern Miracle Network Inc, Founder & Executive Director: 2016-Present
• Questerre Energy Corporation, Founder & President: 2000 – Present
• Rupert’s Crossing Ltd: 1996 – Present (Binnion’s venture capital entity)
• Canada Strong & Free Network, Board member: 2020 – Present (Formerly the Manning Centre, a pro-oil, free market-oriented advocacy group)
• Manning Foundation: Former Chairman
• High Arctic Energy Services, Chairman: 2005 – Present
• Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Chairman: 2003 – 2015
• Red Leaf Resources Inc., Director: 2012 – 2015 (Resource extraction technology company focusing on shale oil)
• Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers: Former board member
• Ernst & Young: 1982 – 1988

Villain Career Profile

Michael Binnion has been a key figure behind the petro-populism movement, which uses industry resources to rile up and elevate the profile of communities supporting the fossil fuel industry and to coordinate attacks on those who are critical of the industry. This strategy portrays the oil and gas industry as under attack in order to galvanize people, especially those with ties to the industry, to “defend” it. Binnion’s role in this has been to link the oil and gas industry with politicians and industry front groups. 

He has been relentless in his advocacy against climate policies in Canada. A 2019 Corporate Knights profile describes his work as offering “a well-connected and determined insider’s campaign to change our national conversation about both fossil fuels generally and carbon pricing in particular.” The same article also describes him as “relentless, publicly and privately” in trying to eliminate the federal carbon tax.

While his corporate day job may be as head of a shale (ie. fracking) gas company, his LinkedIn profile states “my passion remains political advocacy.” This is demonstrated by his leadership and lengthy tenure at free-market oriented think tanks and advocacy organizations, and support for pro-oil politicians and astroturf groups. 

In 2016 Binnion founded the Modern Miracle Network (MMN) to promote, celebrate, and embrace fossil fuels as, you guessed it, “the miracle of modern hydrocarbons in Canada.” MMN, operating out of the same headquarters as Questerre Energy and with other Questarre employees in Director positions, hosts networking and education events that are pro-oil and activate opposition to climate regulations. MMN has financially supported and regularly promotes astroturf groups in the “Canada Proud” network. An astro-turf group is one which appears to be grassroots but are actually industry founded and funded. Since 2016, Binnion has promoted or been supportive of convoys of oil and gas workers going to Ottawa to fight for the industry, which were trial runs for the large anti-masking “Freedom convoy” that took over downtown Ottawa. 

While Binnion’s oil and gas production ventures have not been as successful as his Climate Villain peers, he still boasts an annual compensation package from Questerre of over $620 thousand, roughly 8.5 times the average salary in Canada. His estimated net worth is $4 million.

 

 

 

Career Highlights

Fighting to Frack the Saint-Lawrence River

• With Binnion’s company, Questerre Energy, he championed the exploration of shale gas in Quebec. In his words “We are now on the front lines campaigning for a social license to operate in Quebec”
• Binnion lobbied against Quebec’s ban on fracking, and, more recently, against Quebec’s ban on oil and gas exploration, which was successfully passed in 2022. Binnion then took legal action against the Quebec government to “protect the rights of our shareholders”  despite the government covering 75 per cent of the shutdown and remediation costs and companies receiving $100 million in compensation for their drilling licenses. In January of 2024 the Quebec Superior Court accepted Questerre’s application to stay key provisions (i.e. not apply) of the fossil fuel exploration ban while the judicial proceedings move forward. 
• Binnion was a “driving force” behind the now-bunk Quebec Oil and Gas Association (QOGA) in the mid-2000s. It has been largely inactive since 2015 but originally included political insiders on the governance board. 

Boosting Fossil Fuel Astroturf & Advocacy Groups

• Binnion has played a defining role in the Modern Miracle Network (MMN), Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), the Canada Strong and Free Network (CSFN), and the Manning Foundation. These organizations have promoted the profile and opinion of climate crisis deniers and advocated against climate policies and regulations on the fossil fuel industry. 

Both the CSFN and the CTF are affiliated with the Atlas Network, a global association of libertarian think tanks that advocate against government intervention to solve the climate crisis. The Atlas Network stopped publicly sharing its membership in 2021, but these Canadian groups were listed the last year Atlas listed its members on its website.

Take Action: Tell Canada to Stop Big Oil’s Climate Villains

The Climate Villains campaign highlights the leaders of the fossil fuel industry that play key roles in expanding and financing climate-wrecking fossil fuels, blocking climate action, and spreading disinformation. These villains are more concerned about their profits and wealth than the future of the planet, and that’s why we’re profiling the ‘resume’ of each climate villain.

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This post was originally published on Environmental Defence.