BANFF — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to “kick ass” at the UN’s COP 28 climate change conference in Dubai later this fall..Smith will personally head a delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to make the case for the most responsibly produced oil and gas on the planet at the end of November and upstage federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s project of trashing Canada’s — and Alberta’s — energy sector on the global stage..“We need to work with industry to make sure we’ve got a kick-ass display committee to take with us to COP 28,” she told a cheering crowd at the Global Business Forum in Banff Friday..More specifically, she’s personally travelling to the UAE to counter Guilbeault himself, who she called a “maverick” with an “offensive” message..Guilbeault has been prepping for COP 28 for months, where he is expected to announce agreements on “unabated” fossil fuel subsidies and try to secure commitments to reduce international financing for oil and gas projects — presumably in Canada..That said, Smith said the sentiment in the Liberal caucus isn’t uniformly negative; she singled out several ministers whom she said have “reasonable” views on energy issues. She mentioned Chrystia Freeland, Francois Philippe Champagne, Dominic LeBlanc, Seamus O'Regan and Randy Boissonneault as “reasonably” friendly cabinet voices — and especially Boissonneault who hails from Edmonton..Delegates offhandedly commented it was the first time they’d ever heard Smith praise a Liberal minister. Even Jonathan Wilkinson, whom she said talks a different line behind closed doors than his public statements at the opening ceremonies of the World Petroleum Congress last Sunday..“So I would say it's not uniformly negative in the Liberal caucus, but for some reason, they're allowing Stephen Guilbeault to be a maverick and a renegade and quite offensive to those of us who are trying to be reasonable and out about this,” she said..“He went to China to co-chair a committee with the Politburo on how we were going to reduce emissions. I mean, he's far more gentle with China in their emissions target in 2060 than he is with Alberta. He took the same week to to blast one of our most responsible companies in energy reduction, Suncor, which is part of the Pathways group and took the opportunity to smash that while he was so cozying up to China, which I was not impressed with.” .“We have a sincere interest in finding a solution, but that Steven Guilbeault is not helpful. Can anyone help get him removed as environment minister?”.While at COP 28, Smith said she is going to push the message that it is Alberta — not the federal government — that needs to be consulted on energy issues because it is the one with the constitutional authority to do so..She joked that the Saudis referred to her as “Her Excellency” so many times she got used to it over the four days of the World Petroleum Congress. “So you can call me ‘E’,” she joked..But on a serious note, Smith said she was “gravely annoyed every time they announced a new policy in our area of jurisdiction,” and that isn’t going to happen again — whether Guilbeault likes it or not..Moderator Gary Mar, who is also head of the Canada West Foundation quipped: “Let me say I'm glad you're premier, because I don't relish the idea of spending my time fishing turds out of a punch bowl. I mean, this is a hard job, and I mean, Alberta has, I think has a role, Canada has a role in this.”
