Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is calling out Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for something he himself refuses to do — listening to the oil patch.On Tuesday, Guilbeault produced a "smoking gun" in the form of an Elections Canada filing detailing the attendance of several Calgary-based oil patch executives at a Conservative fundraiser in Banff on April 11, 2023.That’s when Cenovus CEO Alexander Pourbaix donated $1,600 to the Conservatives the very next day, according to government records.For his part, Guilbeault called it just more proof of Poilievre’s plans to eliminate the carbon tax and help his “rich friends” if he is elected prime minister next year..Although he has vowed to ‘axe’ the consumer carbon tax, Poilievre has yet to take a position on the industrial carbon tax against big industrial producers like oil sands companies.According a mandatory filing with Elections Canada, the event dubbed “An Evening with Pierre Poilievre” was held at an undisclosed private residence in Banff. In addition to Pourbaix, other notable oil patch players included financier Adam Waterhouse, former Birchcliffe Energy CEO Jeffery Tonken, Paramount Resources boss Jim Riddell and local legend Guy Turcotte who has founded several oil and gas companies in addition to a new hydrogen manufacturing firm.Also in attendance was Calgary billionaire Ron Mannix and founder of Corel Holdings, a global asset management firm with interests in real estate and coal mining.Although Poilievre has been vocal about killing the consumer tax he’s been less clear on the industrial surcharge which covers about 70% of all emissions in Alberta alone. .Even extreme climate groups lie the Canadian Climate Institute agree that the industrial tax has made the single largest contribution to reducing Canada’s emissions — up to 48% by 2030 — more than any other policy, including the consumer tax.That’s why even Conservative commentators think Poilievre will keep the industrial portion in place going forward.Ken Boessenkool, a former advisor to Stephen Harper and the executive director of Conservatives for Clean Growth — which includes co-chairs Jim Dinning and former Harper minister Lisa Raitt — told Post Media last week that he fully expects Poilievre to keep the industrial portion.Pointing to Alberta’s TIER program that rebates the tax back into research and development of new technologies, “I just don’t see any government in any future getting rid of that — Conservative, Liberal or New Democrat,” he said. “The question is: will it continue to get more stringent? Will it continue to get tighter? And I think the answer to that question is almost certainly, yes.”
