HOUSTON — Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is disputing a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) that his government’s proposed emissions cap will lead to job losses and amounts to a defacto emissions cut.
Posting on Twitter (“X”) from the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy show in Houston, Wilkinson took aim at the report, which suggests that a proposed emissions cap would result in 55,000 job losses, cut oil and gas production by a minimum of 5% — or 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) and shave $20 billion from the country’s GDP.
The lion’s share of the economic impact would be felt in Alberta.
“Unfortunately, the PBO wasted their time and taxpayer dollars by analyzing a made-up scenario that the Government of Canada is not even remotely proposing,” Wilkinson said.
“By suggesting the only way to achieve emissions reductions in the oil and gas industry is to cut production, the PBO is once again misleading the public and ignoring reality.”
He continued to insist that the emissions cap isn’t a cap on energy production or jobs.
“Governments and industry themselves agree on the potential of technically achievable carbon capture technologies to cut pollution from the oil and gas industry, while production of oil and gas increases, and thousands of good jobs are created,” he said.
Wilkinson flew into Houston for the CERAWeek oil show late on Tuesday but by Wednesday he was jetting back to Ottawa, presumably for the swearing in of incoming prime minister Mark Carney on Friday.
He declined multiple interview requests from The Western Standard.
The Alberta government has previously argued the emissions cap amounts to a production cut on the order of one million bpd, or more like 20% of Alberta’s oil output.
“Alberta is working to diversify our customer base and get more barrels to tidewater to maximize the value of our exports, but this policy is blatant hypocrisy at a time when Canadians are uniting on supporting a stronger energy sector,” Premier Danielle Smith and Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz said in a joint statement.
“This cap must be scrapped immediately for the good of the country.”
Whether or not it goes into effect likely depends on whether Wilkinson and compatriot Steven Guilbeault retain their positions in a Carney cabinet, likely to be announced today.
Meanwhile, the UCP government said it would push ahead with a constitutional challenge if the rules are implemented.
“The evidence is clear: the federal government’s proposed emissions cap is unconstitutional, bad for the economy and bad for Canadians,” Smith and Schulz continued.
“We urge the next elected Prime Minister to abandon this extreme and ideological cap. It has never been clearer that we must grow and expand our energy sector as part of uniting Canada and ensuring a strong and independent economy.”