Twenty years ago during winter break from college in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, 19-year-old Deena Del Giusto decided to take a road trip north to Fort St. John, where one of her friends had just opened a beauty salon. 

“I loved what I saw so much, I never came back,” says Del Giusto, who grew up in Abbotsford in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland near the American border, more than 1,200 kilometres away from the small city in northeast B.C.

Three children and two careers later, Del Giusto considers Fort St. John home.

When she saw a photo circulating online by the David Suzuki Foundation purporting to show the large scale of development in the region’s Montney natural gas play, she had a “wait, what?!” moment. 

“As soon as I saw that photo, I knew something didn’t look right because it looked nothing like anything I’d seen anywhere around here,” she said. 

“I’ve lived here for a long time and personally visited the drilling rigs and fracking sites in this area, first as a medic and then as a safety hand.” 

Del Giusto’s instincts led her to do some online research, which revealed the photo was actually taken in Wyoming more than 20 years ago.  

It had been repurposed by the David Suzuki Foundation on its website, social media channels and donation appeals to portray natural gas development in the Montney play. 

Del Giusto and seven other northeast B.C. residents have filed a formal application with the federal government’s Competition Bureau to investigate the foundation for using “false and misleading imagery.”  

Photos from Competition Bureau filing

The eight residents, who own small businesses in the region, claim this materially misleads donors and the public, which violates the Competition Act. 

It is filed under the Act’s established provisions and is not related to recent changes regarding “greenwashing” under Bill C-59.   

The residents’ complaint asks the bureau to investigate and potentially impose remedies, including stopping all uses of the image, publishing corrective notices and returning proceeds. 

“People who live in northeast B.C. are proud of what they do to produce the energy that Canada and the world needs in the right way because our families live here,” said Del Giusto, who now works as a real estate agent in the city of 25,000. 

“If you drive 10 minutes outside the city, you are in wilderness and it is beautiful. It’s important because developing the Montney supports thousands of jobs and fuels economic activity across the country.” 

Del Giusto said she understands that many people in Canada aren’t exposed to the oil and gas sector, which helped spur her decision to file the complaint.  

“It’s important we don’t have misrepresentations about what’s taking place,” she said.  

“Accurate public information is vital to informed debate, especially as many Canadians live far from production sites.” 

Del Giusto wants environmental organizations that campaign against development held to the same standard as energy companies. 

“This complaint is about truth and fairness. These issues deserve more than scare tactics and misleading imagery,” she said. 

“If we had a more open and honest conversation, we could be talking about what we could do to improve rather than debating things that aren’t true.” 

This article was originally produced by the Canadian Energy Centre. See the original article here.