To say Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is a bit miffed Wednesday would be an understatement. Outraged is more like it..The premier tore a rhetorical strip off federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Wednesday for comments he made from China on Suncor — and not the Chinese Communist Party’s own environmental polices, which are some of the worst in the world..“Steven Guilbeault has once again shown his utter contempt for Alberta, our economy and our energy workers,” she said in a statement. .“While advising the Chinese Communist Party about its environmental policies, Minister Guilbeault stated that, due to an Alberta oil and gas company's decision to focus on oil and gas production, he has increased his resolve to introduce an emissions cap that will effectively force energy companies to cap their oil and gas production.” .“Minister Guilbeault’s comments are a continuation of his provocative verbal attacks on Alberta's energy sector, the most environmentally responsible and ethical energy-producing jurisdiction in the world."."His involvement in the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development has him turning a blind eye to China’s environmental record while they add the equivalent of two new coal emissions plants each week,” she added. .“Conversely, Albertans have cut emissions more than any other province this past decade, spending billions of dollars transitioning almost all electricity generation from coal to natural gas.”.The premier went on to call Guilbeault “ill informed” and accused his ideological policies of driving away investment and indeed, innovation to actually reduce emissions..“Albertans are proud of our environmental leadership and do not deserve the irresponsible, destabilizing, investment-repelling and ill-informed comments of a federal cabinet minister intent on destroying one of Alberta's and Canada's most critical economic sectors,” she said..“Phasing out Alberta's oil and gas sector will devastate the Canadian and Alberta economies, significantly reduce budgets for health care and other social programs, put tens of thousands of people out of work and make little to no impact on reducing global emissions.”.Smith went on to call the proposed electricity rules — never mind an emissions cap that would amount to a million-barrel per day production cut — unconstitutional and unwarranted. And more importantly, unaffordable..“Furthermore, Minister Guilbeault’s unrealistic 2035 net-zero power grid plan will make electricity unreliable and unaffordable for millions of Albertans..She further threatened an unspecified response — presumably an invocation of the Sovereignty Act — if Ottawa continues to overstep its power..“Under no scenario will the Government of Alberta permit the implementation of the proposed federal electricity regulations or contemplated oil and gas emissions cap,” she said..“Ottawa has no constitutional authority to regulate in these areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction. We would strongly suggest the federal government refrain from testing our government's or Albertans' resolve in this regard.“.Ironically, even after tearing him to the ground, she continued to hold out an olive branch and urged Ottawa to come back to the table..“As stated repeatedly, we stand ready to commence the federal-provincial working group in good faith to align Ottawa's and Alberta's efforts towards achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. However, this must be done in a collaborative and respectful fashion without Minister Guilbeault's continued threats to the economic well-being of Albertans and Canadians.”
