EDMONTON — Former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault believes his environmental views made him the perfect scapegoat for Premier Danielle Smith and other Albertans, but claims he and the Liberals compromised when setting Canada's greenhouse gas reduction target. "I think for parts of the political movement out west, I was really like the, yeah, the perfect target, and I incarnate everything they hate about progressives, about people more to the left, about the environmental movement," Guilbeault said during an interview on Wednesday's episode of The Herle Burly show. Guilbeault said he fit the role because he was an environmental activist who was previously arrested for climbing the CN Tower in protest against climate change. Smith and other Alberta leaders have often used Guilbeault as a punching bag to get a pop when delivering speeches in Alberta and to conservative audiences. “On behalf of all Albertans, Mr. Guilbeault, we bid you adieu!” said Smith at the 2025 UCP AGM shortly after Guilbeault resigned from his federal cabinet position over frustrations with Alberta and Ottawa's pipeline MOU. (In unrelated news, individuals can purchase shirts, hoodies, and other paraphernalia from the Western Standard's Jumpsuit Guilbeault collection on the Western Standard store.).Guilbeault understands why he was the scapegoat, but he told the show's host, David Herle, that there is a misconception that he was non-negotiable regarding environmental policy decisions. He told Herle that the Trudeau government's initial clean energy regulations goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 300 million tons by 2050, but reduced the target to 181 million tons because Alberta, Saskatchewan, and some other provinces have limited renewable energy options. "This idea that I was 'my way or the highway' all the time is simply, you know, it's a caricature that's good for social media and good for political campaigning, but has no basis in reality," Guilbeault said. .The Herle Burly show called Guilbeault's appearance on the show an "exit interview" on the heels of his announcement on May 27 that he will be resigning from the federal government because he could not support the MOU with Alberta. "That's really what led me to first decide to leave cabinet, because I could not see how I could defend that proposal with Alberta, the MOU, and then, eventually, a couple of weeks ago, when I saw the result of those negotiations, I felt that it was time for me to leave," Guilbeault said. With that said, Guilbeault said he understands why Prime Minister Mark Carney felt pressure to reach an agreement and alleviate some pressure caused by the Alberta independence movement. However, he claimed a pipeline is not going to relieve the pressure. "It has been pretty stable for the last 20 years or so," Guilbeault said. "So, Justin Trudeau didn't have much of an impact in favour of Alberta separatism. Buying a pipeline didn't have much of an impact in fighting Alberta separatism.""I don't question the motivations behind the MOU; I question the tactics, the things that we're doing to try and find a solution to these complex issues." Though he resigned because he saw the Carney government relenting on some environmental protection policies, Guilbeault said public concerns about climate change are not gone, and he may not be gone for good either. "It's going to come back," Guilbeault said. "Someone's going to say, you know, or the public's going to impose the issue upon politicians to say, 'This needs to be your priority.' And who knows, I might be called upon to serve king and country again, and I'm certainly not closing the door to that."
