Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he is annoyed Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees it as productive to communicate through the media. Recently, Wilkinson had a face-to-face conversation with Smith. “There are certainly opportunities to engage and have conversations in a constructive way that are not simply by issuing press releases,” said Wilkinson at a Monday press conference. “I would point you to Premier [David] Eby and his government, where we often don’t necessarily agree on everything and we have good conversations about how to get past that.” .He invited Smith “to be a little more constructive in terms of how she engages.” Office of the Premier of Alberta press secretary Sam Blackett said Smith met with Wilkinson on April 24, but the Impact Assessment Act did not come up. “But the Premier could not have been aware of these changes at the time of her meeting with Minister Wilkinson, as Alberta was only informed of the changes after their meeting had occurred,” said Blackett. “The federal government did not even inform Alberta when they were tabling these amendments in the House of Commons.”Blackett pointed out this situation could have been avoided if the Canadian government agreed to consult with Alberta after its victory at the Supreme Court of Canada rather than send vague letters and blank templates. He called this failure to work with Alberta “a choice made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister Steven Guilbeault.”Smith said in September Albertans do not want to be like Germany after Wilkinson suggested Canada copies the European Union’s energy policy. READ MORE: ACHTUNG, BABY: Smith blasts Wilkinson in WPC address for being like EUShe took umbrage with remarks from him that Canadian energy policy should resemble Germany’s.Additionally, she reminded him Germany was forced to restart coal-fired power plants due to energy shortages of Russian natural gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
