Full Breakdown
Canada Action’s Orchestrated Viral Push Using a Former B.C. Premier’s Interview
By Drooid · · How we work
Canada Action’s Viral Amplification of a Christy Clark Interview
In December 2025 former British Columbia premier Christy Clark told Global News that the federal ban on oil tankers along the west coast was “ridiculous” for the Canadian economy. Within days, a short clip of the interview was circulating on X and Facebook with captions such as “reality check” and “huge truth bomb.” DeSmog obtained an internal slide deck from the Calgary-based advocacy group Canada Action that shows the clip was deliberately “snipped and posted” and then re-uploaded by allied pages, turning the interview into a viral piece of pro-oil content.
Funding and Network Behind the Campaign
Canada Action, founded in 2012 by realtor Cody Battershill, describes itself as a grassroots effort but is linked to the fossil-fuel sector through the Canadian Energy Prosperity (CEP) umbrella and its Energy in Action (EIA) network. The Greenpeace report cited by DeSmog notes that Canada Action spent C$1.9 million on marketing in 2024 and C$1.5 million in 2023. Funding streams also include contributions from Cenovus Energy and from fracking magnate Gwyn Morgan, who has provided nearly C$10 million to right-wing anti-regulation groups.
Reach and Engagement Metrics
According to the slide decks, the Clark clip amassed 1,614,000 views across Canada Action’s own pages and “unattributed traffic” from third-party reposts. The group’s broader social-media footprint generated over 37.5 million impressions in April 2026, with its three Twitter accounts (@LNGAction, @OilSandsAction, @CanadaAction) accounting for more than 25 million views. Facebook metrics show 2.8 million unique users reached by the Canada Action page and 1.4 million by the Oil Sands Action page; Instagram reached 559,000 and 476,000 respectively. A post by Kitimat mayor Phil Germuth—shared through a partnership with Resource Works—received 6,600 likes, 490 comments and 274 shares.
Official Responses and Expert Assessment
Canada Action did not respond to DeSmog’s inquiries about its tactics or the use of Clark’s video. Shane Gunster, professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Communications, explained that messages appearing to come from personal networks are more persuasive than overt industry branding, especially among audiences that consume little news. He attributed recent swings in public opinion favoring oil and gas projects, in part, to campaigns like those detailed in the Greenpeace report.
The disclosed spending, coordinated network, and documented view counts illustrate how a single political interview was transformed into a large-scale digital influence operation supporting Canada’s oil and gas sector.