Quote from Steve MacLellan on August 26, 2026, 8:35 pm

Hi everyone

We learned yesterday about the one fracking company that is being courted to frack in Nova Scotia.

As reported in All Nova Scotia, which is behind a paywall and unshareable, "Questerre Energy Corp says it's finalizing agreements for onshore oil and gas exploration rights in Nova Scotia." Onshore oil and gas development is the euphemism that business and government people like to use for fracking at this point.

NOFRAC folks looked into Questerre, and found that it is run by a man named Michael Binnion, who has been called one of the top 10 climate villains in Canada by Environmental Defence. He's not just a fracker - he's a political influencer who has a long history of sowing doubt about climate change, funding organizations that purposefully spread misinformation about climate policy and drive down public support for climate action, trying to stop Quebec from banning fossil fuel extraction, and sitting on the board of the ever-powerful Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Like I said to the Halifax Examiner, "this is not the kind of guy that we want to be working with to usher in a new era of wonderful fair economic development in Nova Scotia."

NOFRAC's press release is here, and you can find Environmental Defence's whole profile on Michael Binnion here.

No agreements have been signed yet, though Questerre is talking about it. It's a bit strange that the company is announcing these almost-agreements before the province is. Are they at a stalemate and the company is trying to bully the province? Who knows. But the good part about the province not yet putting out a statement or announcement about this agreement is that all of us have a big opportunity to show these frackers - and show our communities - they're not welcome, and we don't trust them.

If you'd like to take some action, here are a couple suggestions of things you can do:

- Call your MLA and ask them about this potential deal. I included a long list of questions you could ask below.

- Call the Energy Minister (Marco McLeod - really popular guy this week) and ask the same. His number is 902-424-7109.

- Write an op-ed or letter to the editor to your local paper. These matter a lot!

- Share NOFRAC's facebook or instagram posts (PS we have instagram finally! follow us at @no_frac)

- Talk to your friends and neighbours about this. Truly, people mostly change their minds and form their opinions based on what they hear from people they know and trust. Setting ourselves and our communities up to resist whatever wave of lies is going to come from Questerre is really important.

- If you have other ideas of things we can do to make it harder for the province, Dalhousie, and Questerre to get away with this bs, share them on this list!

Thanks all.

Robin Tress

Questions you could ask MLAs, compiled from NOFRAC: 

• No one has told the public how the government will determine the potential costs property owners and residents if fracking occurs. Will you ask the Minister of Energy how that real cost will be compensated?
• What kind of deposit is the government going to require from a fracking company to compensate home owners and residents for these costs?
• What baseline water, air, and health research is the government going to require prior to any exploration?
• What information about fracking fluid and other toxins will be made public prior to fracking happening?
• Is the government going to let Questerre hide any of its toxic substances behind a label of "trade secrets"?
• What monitoring wells for water and air quality monitors are going to be employed before, during and after fracking? Who is putting them up, maintaining them and providing reports? How will ongoing funding be provided for long-term monitoring?
• If and when any agreement is signed with Questerre, is the government going to promptly make available to the public an unredacted version of this agreement?
• Exactly what area of the province is Questerre seeking a license for? The news says they'll be working in Cumberland Basin but that's too vague,
• What will be the required setback from each fracking well to any water supply, residence, or school?
• Do you think entering into a risky project with a business leader who has such a bad track record of interfering with policy making and democratic process is the right choice for Nova Scotia?

--

Robin Tress

(902) 223 8526

• No one has told the public how the government will determine the potential costs property owners and residents if fracking occurs. Will you ask the Minister of Energy how that real cost will be compensated?
• What kind of deposit is the government going to require from a fracking company to compensate home owners and residents for these costs?
• What baseline water, air, and health research is the government going to require prior to any exploration?
• What information about fracking fluid and other toxins will be made public prior to fracking happening?
• Is the government going to let Questerre hide any of its toxic substances behind a label of "trade secrets"?
• What monitoring wells for water and air quality monitors are going to be employed before, during and after fracking? Who is putting them up, maintaining them and providing reports? How will ongoing funding be provided for long-term monitoring?
• If and when any agreement is signed with Questerre, is the government going to promptly make available to the public an unredacted version of this agreement?
• Exactly what area of the province is Questerre seeking a license for? The news says they'll be working in Cumberland Basin but that's too vague,
• What will be the required setback from each fracking well to any water supply, residence, or school?
• Do you think entering into a risky project with a business leader who has such a bad track record of interfering with policy making and democratic process is the right choice for Nova Scotia?