Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO) Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Tonken is warning excessive regulation threatens to strangle the energy industry. In an interview on BNN, Tonken said it’s more than just the carbon tax looming over his industry, arguing a web of red tape threatens to ensnare companies operating in the energy patch.

“When you add costs, and more costs, and more costs to a good business, the energy business, eventually you’re going to kill it,” he said. “You can’t continue to add taxes and expect that we’re going be able to pay those taxes, and the whole thing is going to come unwound here.”

Tonken said he believes any increases in taxes will ultimately drive companies out of business, thus reducing the overall tax base and starving social programs of much-needed funds.

“Health and education are all things that we all want, but we’re not going to be able to pay for it,” he said. “That carbon tax is a small portion of the bigger picture: We’ve got to be able to bring our costs down. And the governments cannot continue to tax us so we don’t have any free money to spend, or the economy is going to fall apart.”

Tonken said the evolving regulatory and tax environment in the United States makes the matter all the more pressing.

“In the U.S., they’re becoming very pro-energy and they’re driving their costs down and their tax regimes are making it more competitive for them to do business down there,” he said. “If we don’t watch out in Canada, we’re going to add too many taxes to our businesses and we’re going to strangle the golden goose.”