“This is intended as criticism but I expect Guilbeault would be pleased with the acknowledgment.”Macdonald-Laurier Institute.Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has earned the dubious distinction of being named Canada’s ‘policymaker of the year’ by the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute — but not for the reasons he might think.Or maybe because of them.That’s because nobody in the Liberal government has been more effective at introducing “sector-destroying, economy-killing, counterproductive climate policies” as he was in 2023, according to MLI.In fact, he pushed through his agenda with “ruthless efficiency” as per Heather Exner-Pirot, MLI’s director of energy, natural resources and environment. “No one else in Canada has been as influential, and… no one else has done so much damage.” And for that, he was selected for singular distinction on the cover of the think tank’s Inside Policy magazine.“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,” Exner-Pirot wrote..“But, like the final boss of a video game, Guilbeault is proving to be a formidable challenger to the country’s most important economic sector, even as the country struggles under declining productivity, persistent inflation and an affordability crisis. What Texas, Vladimir Putin and OPEC could not undermine, Guilbeault is poised to do.”“This is intended as criticism but I expect Guilbeault would be pleased with the acknowledgment.”Dubbed the ‘Green Jesus of Montreal’ by La Presse, Guilbeault was appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change in 2021. The MLI article notes the iconic image of the future minister being hauled off in cuffs in his faux orange prison jumpsuit emblazoned with the Greenpeace logo has come to neatly sum up his climate policy — “the perfect villian…caricature of the West-hating, anti-oil Liberal that has confounded the aspirations of Canadians west of the Laurentian corridor for decades.”Since then, “he has disappointed few of his supporters and assuaged none of his critic’s fears.”.The article goes on to note his successive battles with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe over his proposed clean energy regulations and successive losses at the Supreme Court of Canada on the 'No More Pipelines Act' as mere nuisances in his quest for climate domination.Add in unilateral policy pronouncements at COP28 capping oil and gas emissions and farts from cows, and Guilbeault is the penultimate Machiavellian policy maker.“It appears that, in Guilbeault’s view, federalism is an inconvenient and unacceptable barrier to accomplishing meaningful progress on climate change,” Exner-Pirot wrote. “One could almost admire Guilbeault’s unwavering commitment to his principles, his willingness to advance his goals in the face of criticism, resistance and alarm. But through his actions, Guilbeault has treated the fact that Canada is a democracy, a market economy and a federation as inconveniences to be overcome.”“Canadians that care about these things will find many reasons to be concerned with Steven Guilbeault’s efforts this year. His impact on the nation’s politics and economy will be felt long after his policies have been overturned.”
