TORONTO — Ecojustice lawyer Charles Hatt made the following statement in response to the Commissioner of Competition’s decision to discontinue an inquiry into climate science misrepresentations in Canada:

“We are extremely disappointed that after more than a year, the Competition Bureau has dropped its investigation into climate denier groups who appear to purposely mislead and deceive the public about climate change science to help preserve the status quo of a fossil fuel based economy.

The urgency of transitioning to a new, cleaner energy future demands that our public conversation be based on the weight of scientific evidence, not falsehoods and junk-science. And the fact remains that the confusion these denier groups sow about the causes and severe consequences of climate change makes it difficult to have necessary and meaningful conversations about how Canada can accelerate that transition.

We will continue to do our part to fight for honest conversations about climate science and policy that keep Canada moving forward.”

Hatt filed the complaint with the Competition Bureau on behalf of Stephen Lewis, Tzeporah Berman, Dr. David Schindler, Dr. Thomas Duck, Dr. Danny Harvey, and Devon Page in December 2015. The Competition Bureau announced it would open an inquiry in June 2016.