New federal greenwashing rules will do little to prevent deceptive environmental claims

In an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail, Wren Montgomery is joined by Julien Beaulieu, law lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke and researcher with the Quebec Center for Environmental Law, to weigh in on the Canadian government’s plan for the third phase of its competition law reform.

The Op-Ed notes that “under the new rules, firms making environmental claims will have to back them with “adequate and proper” tests" and maintain records of such.

Despite these regulatory changes, Montgomery and Beaulieu point out flaws that persist in the process, including that the plan is “unambitious” and that it still requires consumers to bring forward any cases.

They write that “without environmental transparency, we might as well throw “green markets” and “stakeholder capitalism” in the trash can.”