Communities begin to crumble when profitable corporations withdraw the donations they’ve pledged and force non-profits and charities to cut back their operations in a time of economic and social upheaval, a group of 28 organizations warns in an open letter published this week by the Tamarack Institute.

Although the letter names no names, it’s a direct response to the Suncor Energy Foundation’s decision to cancel confirmed pledges to several past recipients, including The Resilience Institute, The Energy Mix has learned.

In addition to The Resilience Institute (TRI) and Tamarack, the list of signatories includes End Poverty Edmonton, the Calgary-based Energy Futures Lab, Flourish Alberta, the Ontario Nonprofit Network, Calgary-bases Student Energy, and Volunteer Alberta.

“The time is now to advance trust-based community investment, not slide backwards,” the letter states. “When funding priorities shift suddenly, quickly, in the middle of funding cycles, and with little to no notice or communication, critical community infrastructure begins to crumble. Non-profits may be forced to pause, scale back, or shut down programs and services and/or let go of or reduce hours for staff and volunteers. This creates a domino effect, most often leaving equity-deserving communities with gaps in support.”

So “while many corporate funders are making meaningful strides toward trust-based philanthropy, there is still work to do together,” the cautiously-worded open letter says. “Some current practices can create barriers to community-led impact or put public benefit missions at risk. This is a shared opportunity to deepen trust, shift power, and co-create approaches that truly centre community well-being.”

The letter invites other groups to sign on, with the caveat that “the organizers are not responsible for any claims, demands, or actions that might arise from the letter. The organizers have sought and incorporated rounds of legal advice, and encourage others to as well.”

‘Flying Too Close to the Sun’

Senior representatives of the Tamarack Institute and The Resilience Institute declined to comment for this story.

But in July, The Energy Mix Weekender reported that Suncor had summarily cancelled more than half of a three-year, $900,000 donation pledge without explanation, shut down all communication, then appeared to have cautioned TRI to remain silent about it. After President/CEO Laura S. Lynes posted an online account of the situation without identifying the donor, a company lawyer warned the organization it would be “flying too close to the sun” if it told the story out loud.

The sudden, unexplained loss of $500,000 in confirmed funding left The Resilience Institute (TRI) scrambling to decide which front-line projects and staff jobs will be affected.

“We’re going to have to back out of several relationships. We have commitments to communities. We have commitments to staff,” Lynes told The Mix at the time. “We have at least four multi-partner initiatives where we have committed to coming to the table with staff, and in some cases with funding, to do multi-year project work in small, rural, and Indigenous communities across Canada. That’s the work that is at risk.”

Some of those projects involved front-line research with Indigenous communities in Treaty 7 territory in southern Alberta, and in the heart of oil sands extraction in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

Although the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF) responded only minimally to two lawyer’s letters from TRI, Lynes said in July, the company paid attention after she issued two LinkedIn posts—one on the TRI page, the other on her own professional profile—that explained the situation without calling Suncor out by name.

“Within 24 hours, their lawyer called our lawyer,” expressing concern about the Institute’s social media activity, she recounted. “Our lawyer said, ‘are you talking about two posts that don’t even mention Suncor or SEF?’ And their lawyer said, it’s a small community, and people can make inferences.” When TRI responded that Suncor was fretting over its reputation when this was a matter of integrity, “the lawyer said we want you to know that your client is on our radar and they’re flying too close to the sun. End of conversation.”

At the time, Lynes said she’d heard of several other charities that received similar treatment, but their boards were afraid to speak up. On LinkedIn this week, Christine Spottiswood, former network director at Flourish Alberta, said she could “wholeheartedly support” the sign-on.

“As the former leader of one of the signing organizations, and given the reasons for me no longer being in that position, I am still thinking through my feelings and thoughts on this, while being told I need to be careful what I say—which is a whole other problem in itself,” she wrote.

“I am grateful for the thoughtful leadership demonstrated in this open letter that centres care of communities, and for the reminder of the dedicated support needed to ensure their stability and strength,” former SEF executive director Lori Hewson added on LinkedIn, in her own response to the open letter.

Clean Economy Fund CEO Eric Campbell commented on the wider situation a couple of weeks ago. “It’s too bad what’s happening at Suncor Energy Foundation,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “As Canada’s only oil company with a registered foundation, not to mention one that has consistently given to charities working on climate solutions, I’ve often argued SEF was a model for the rest of the sector. I’m disappointed they appear to be suddenly stepping back from that leadership.

“Yes, so did I. Not a good look,” replied Environmental Funders Canada Executive Director Devika Shah.

Rewarding Bad Behaviour

Although Suncor remained silent when asked to comment on this story in July, the company found its voice three weeks ago when its CEO, Rich Kruger, received the Business Leader of the Year award from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“Proud, but not surprised,” Suncor said on LinkedIn. “Rich is well known in the Canadian oil patch, bringing more than four decades of experience in the global energy sector. This award recognizes his transformative impact on Suncor driving a strong performance culture focused on safety, reliability, and operational excellence.”

The Chamber website says Business Leader of the Year recipients “are judged on the ways in which they display visionary leadership, drive business growth, and make meaningful contributions to their communities.” And “you know what, they aren’t wrong!” snarked back Canada’s Clean50 founder and executive director Gavin Pitchford, who first broke the news that Suncor had cancelled its pledge to TRI—winner of the Clean50’s Project of the Year award last fall.

“Since Rich Kruger came out of retirement to take over as president and CEO of Suncor two years ago, their organization has publicly abandoned an effort to transition to renewable energy sources, instead refocusing on pumping as much oil and gas as possible out of the ground,” while “yanking promised funding from charities” and “muzzling others with legal threats,” Pitchford added. “Take that for a lasting impact on the economy and on their communities! More oil! Less community!”

Shane Mackenzie, the chamber’s vice president, media and stakeholder communications, referred a media query about the award decision back to Suncor.

“We do not have direct knowledge of the matter you highlight. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for us to comment,” he told The Mix in an email. “We were pleased to have the opportunity to honour Rich Kruger, President & CEO of Suncor as Business Leader of the Year in 2025.”