I will not mince words.Canadians who care about our resource wealth and future prosperity should celebrate Steven Guilbeault’s imminent departure from the governing caucus and keep him as far as possible from the levers of power.I wish him well personally, but like many Canadians, I am glad to see him removed from direct government influence.My research into eco‑extremism convinced me we must guard against adherents of this ideology entering national politics. While security forces pursue phantom right‑wing radicals, authorities too often ignore young activists who claim imminent climate extinction justifies morally questionable acts.Guilbeault comes from the recesses of the extreme environmentalist movement. Who can forget him years ago, arrested after scaling the CN Tower as a young Greenpeace protester?That history can embolden eco‑extremists when someone from their movement reaches high office and sends the wrong message to activists.Officials should never have given him the environment portfolio, and he probably should never have sat in Cabinet. He personified climate‑driven extremism in the Trudeau government, pushed for stricter mandates on the energy sector, and imposed unreasonable electricity standards nationwide..Those regulations advantaged his native Quebec, awash in hydroelectric resources, but punished provinces and territories that had no choice but to use hydrocarbons to power their grids. From a partisan Conservative viewpoint, his exit removes a polarizing figure Conservatives could cite when arguing that the Carney Liberals resembled the Trudeau Liberals. The Liberals also used him to reassure left‑of‑centre voters of their environmental bona fides.From a policy viewpoint focused on Canada’s long‑term prosperity, bon voyage, Steven. The government must abandon policies that deter resource investment: the tanker ban, the emissions cap, the so‑called “greenwashing” amendment, the industrial carbon tax, and federal mandates over electric grids. In pursuing national projects, the feds are learning that anti‑energy policies and rhetoric kill projects and depress GDP.Although Carney never framed it that way, we saw the result. A deathbed conversion still counts as a conversion. Guilbeault refused to accept that reality. Evidence suggests he never fit the world of nation-building politics with its spirit of conciliation, compromise, and policy nuance. We need politicians who care about all of Canada, including the energy‑producing regions.Federal politicians — especially Cabinet ministers — must place their first loyalty with the country and its welfare. I grew more uneasy about Guilbeault while researching a think‑tank paper on a United States (US) court ruling in Maine and a campaign to stop Canadian oil entering the US. Équiterre, a Quebec‑based activist group, joined the so‑called ‘Tar Sands Campaign’ and repeatedly accepted funds from the Tides Foundation to oppose Canada’s oil interests in the US.At that time, Guilbeault served as Équiterre’s deputy director. “Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is to prevent tar sands from coming to Quebec and going on to Maine,” he said. “We feel that a signal needs to be sent to the federal government and oil companies that what they are doing is unacceptable.” Canadians should find it troubling that a past Environment Cabinet minister once worked so actively to undermine Canada’s own oil sector.Based on his later political rhetoric, many of us remain unconvinced that he changed his view. Given his involvement in climate zealotry and risky stunts, it seems reasonable to conclude his primary allegiance lies with environmentalism and climate alarmism. In the past, he sacrificed his country’s interests for that cause..If we prioritize policy that benefits Canada as a whole, we must keep someone like him out of government. Climate alarmism has become a dangerous, apocalyptic ideology that gives children nightmares, radicalizes impressionable young people, and has led to vandalism and arson, such as the February 17, 2022, attack on the Coastal GasLink worksite near Houston, British Columbia.To be clear, I do not accuse Guilbeault of committing such acts. However, he belongs to a broader movement that will not condemn — or will downplay — those actions.We can hope his departure makes him rethink his beliefs and tactics, but his rhetoric makes that doubtful.Canada does not need politicians who court this mindset; doing so grants it undeserved legitimacy. Our country needs politicians and policymakers who ground decisions in cautious science and balance development with environmental preservation.Now that Guilbeault recognizes this, the government rejects his alarmism, expecting him to reinvent himself in new forms to spread this unscientific ideology. Canadians who care about prosperity and the environment should continue to monitor his next moves.Joseph Quesnel is a policy commentator based in Nova Scotia.
