Alberta Premier Danielle Smith apparently hit a nerve against Ottawa’s climate policies.It comes after Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Thursday launched a social media blast that could only be described as trolling the UCP leader in response to a video she posted questioning his divisive climate policies.‘Unhinged’ would be a more appropriate description of the thread, which took 10, 140-character posts to fully articulate.“Is Canada broken?” Smith asks, in the videos, while she shivers in front of Calgary’s McDougall Centre amid a series of scrolling headlines (including the Western Standard) detailing and documenting his punitive ‘clean’ electricity regulations, emissions caps and various assaults on Alberta’s energy industry.“… or do we have a federal government pushing failed policies and dividing us?”.In response, Guilbeault lets loose with what could rightly be described as a Twitter (“X”) tirade, accusing the premier of fear-mongering and spreading fake news.“Premier Smith, like Poilievre, your ‘Canada is broken’ talking points are trying to tear Canada down. Confident countries invest in their people & future.”“Your video serves only to spread fear & misinformation, which does no good for anyone.”Guilbeault goes on to accuse Smith of shutting down $33 billion in renewable energy projects “overnight” with her “unilateral” moratorium on wind and solar.“Is that what you call encouraging investment?”On affordability, Guilbeault says Albertans are about to get their winter carbon tax pricing rebate which will net a family of four $1,544 this year in rebates.“Didn’t you just raise gas taxes?”On the plastics ban — which Guilbeault conveniently omits that his department lost at the Supreme Court: “Ensuring big plastic companies are accountable for plastic waste and recycle more is what Canadians want. So, who are you defending with your position?”.He even takes a shot at her management skills, accusing her of harming babies by importing childcare medications from Turkey.“You talk about good management and yet you pushed for this bizarre drug deal with Turkey that wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and posed serious risks to newborn babies.”He concludes by questioning her honesty and integrity.“Always happy to collaborate, but we must act with integrity and honesty. Fearmongering may be politically expedient for you, but it is selling our economy and future short.”.That’s notwithstanding that the McDonald-Laurier Institute named Guilbeault as their ‘policymaker of the year’ for “ruthlessly” executing “sector-destroying, economy-killing, counterproductive climate policies” in 2023.In a cover story in its Inside Policy magazine, the MLI said “in Guilbeault’s view, federalism is an inconvenient and unacceptable barrier” to pursing his single-minded climate policies.“No one else in Canada has been as influential, and… no one else has done so much damage. From an emissions cap to toxic plastic straws and from Clean Electricity Regulations to the Clean Fuel Standard, Guilbeault has been advancing economy-killing and constitution-defying laws at a frenzied pace,” it wrote.“This is intended as criticism but (we) expect Guilbeault would be pleased with the acknowledgment.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith apparently hit a nerve against Ottawa’s climate policies.It comes after Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Thursday launched a social media blast that could only be described as trolling the UCP leader in response to a video she posted questioning his divisive climate policies.‘Unhinged’ would be a more appropriate description of the thread, which took 10, 140-character posts to fully articulate.“Is Canada broken?” Smith asks, in the videos, while she shivers in front of Calgary’s McDougall Centre amid a series of scrolling headlines (including the Western Standard) detailing and documenting his punitive ‘clean’ electricity regulations, emissions caps and various assaults on Alberta’s energy industry.“… or do we have a federal government pushing failed policies and dividing us?”.In response, Guilbeault lets loose with what could rightly be described as a Twitter (“X”) tirade, accusing the premier of fear-mongering and spreading fake news.“Premier Smith, like Poilievre, your ‘Canada is broken’ talking points are trying to tear Canada down. Confident countries invest in their people & future.”“Your video serves only to spread fear & misinformation, which does no good for anyone.”Guilbeault goes on to accuse Smith of shutting down $33 billion in renewable energy projects “overnight” with her “unilateral” moratorium on wind and solar.“Is that what you call encouraging investment?”On affordability, Guilbeault says Albertans are about to get their winter carbon tax pricing rebate which will net a family of four $1,544 this year in rebates.“Didn’t you just raise gas taxes?”On the plastics ban — which Guilbeault conveniently omits that his department lost at the Supreme Court: “Ensuring big plastic companies are accountable for plastic waste and recycle more is what Canadians want. So, who are you defending with your position?”.He even takes a shot at her management skills, accusing her of harming babies by importing childcare medications from Turkey.“You talk about good management and yet you pushed for this bizarre drug deal with Turkey that wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and posed serious risks to newborn babies.”He concludes by questioning her honesty and integrity.“Always happy to collaborate, but we must act with integrity and honesty. Fearmongering may be politically expedient for you, but it is selling our economy and future short.”.That’s notwithstanding that the McDonald-Laurier Institute named Guilbeault as their ‘policymaker of the year’ for “ruthlessly” executing “sector-destroying, economy-killing, counterproductive climate policies” in 2023.In a cover story in its Inside Policy magazine, the MLI said “in Guilbeault’s view, federalism is an inconvenient and unacceptable barrier” to pursing his single-minded climate policies.“No one else in Canada has been as influential, and… no one else has done so much damage. From an emissions cap to toxic plastic straws and from Clean Electricity Regulations to the Clean Fuel Standard, Guilbeault has been advancing economy-killing and constitution-defying laws at a frenzied pace,” it wrote.“This is intended as criticism but (we) expect Guilbeault would be pleased with the acknowledgment.”