Alberta government passes Sovereignty Act motion about Clean Electricity Regulations

The Alberta government voted 46-28 to approve a motion made under the Alberta Sovereignty Act (ASA) to not comply with the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER). The vote was along party lines, with Alberta United Conservative Party MLAs being for it and NDP MLAs opposing it. “The motion is carried and so ordered,” said Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Nathan Cooper at a Wednesday hearing. Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz said the government cannot permit the CER to be imposed upon the province. “The federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations, Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, is not about reducing emissions from electricity,” said Schulz. “Alberta is already doing that.” Since 2005, Schulz said Alberta has reduced emissions by 55% when it comes to electricity. Additionally, she said the Alberta government was honest about what that meant. She acknowledged affordability and reliability matters, and the CER are an attack on them. As people saw in January, natural gas is critical to keeping the lights on and furnaces running. Even with a growing renewables sector, she said natural gas is needed to keep people and the economy growing strong. While the CER will not reduce emissions, she alleged it will leave people in the dark. To be clear, she said there is a chilling effect on investment because of the Canadian government’s environmental policies. Part of that is because the CER’s targets are unachieveable and rely on technologies not proven to work or exist. She said the Canadian government has “abandoned common sense in favour of ideological delusions and they continue to do that again and again.” While it wants the CER, she admitted Alberta cannot afford to play games with its electricity system. In the dead of winter or the heat of summer, Albertans need natural gas to keep the electricity grid running, have the lights on, turn on furnaces and air conditioners, and keep businesses operating. The Alberta government will never allow regulations that cause blackouts and brownouts and send costs soaring. Schulz concluded by predicting the Alberta NDP would oppose the motion because of ideology. She encouraged MLAs to put ideology aside and stand up for Albertans, ensuring they work on reasonable timelines and maintaining affordability and reliability in the electricity grid. Alberta NDP MLA Nagwan Al-Guneid (Calgary-Glenmore) said the ASA “stifles our economy and scares away investments.” “Government Motion 16 will be no different,” said Al-Guneid. “What we need is meaningful engagement with the rest of Canada, not invoking an act that ignores the rule of law.” Rather than use the ASA, Al-Guneid said the Alberta government should negotiate with the Canadian government. She added it needs to address climate change and take appropriate measures to move forward together. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith confirmed on Your Province. Your Premier. on Corus Radio in November the government would invoke the ASA against the CER. READ MORE: Smith says Alberta will invoke Sovereignty Act on Ottawa’s electricity regsSmith said she will be making the motion in the Alberta Legislature before she flew off to Dubai for the United Nations COP28 Climate Change Conference.When it comes to the CER, she said she has had enough of the Canadian government’s interference and dealing with Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, who is a maverick on the climate file.