Alberta, Saskatchewan Premiers Accuse Ottawa of Wanting to Shut Down Energy Sector

Federal climate change minister Steven Guilbeault tells conference he wants to end fossil fuels

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, accompanied by Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, announces a ban on single-use plastics and items at a beach in Quebec City on June 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan have accused the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of wanting to shut down the energy sector in their respective provinces and have made it clear they are going to push back.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe were responding to comments made by federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault suggesting that his ultimate goal is the elimination of fossil fuels.

“If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. The Trudeau government doesn’t want to just reduce emissions in our energy sector, they want to completely shut down our energy sector,” said Mr. Moe on Twitter on July 15, sharing a CBC article about Mr. Guilbeault’s intention to push for a “phase-out of unabated fossil fuels” at the next international climate summit, referring to the 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP28, scheduled to take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 this year in Dubai,

Mrs. Smith said in a statement on Twitter on July 15 that Mr. Guilbeault made comments to a reporter “about his intention to see the federal government impose a net-zero electricity mandate on all provinces for 2035” and “continued to reference Ottawa’s planned de facto oil and gas production cut.”

“I was also alarmed to read the minister’s belief that oil and gas production is likely to be reduced by 75 percent by 2050,” said the Alberta premier.

“This belief does not align with any credible forecast of future world energy consumption, which continue to see oil and gas dominating the energy supply mix for decades to come,” she said.

According to Mrs. Smith, the contemplated federal targets are unconstitutional, damaging to the economy, and will create investor uncertainty.

The Alberta premier said that if Mr. Guilbeault is “truly committed to reducing emissions around the world, he should busy himself with assisting Western Canada to replace emissions from coal, wood and dung in Asia and Africa with clean Canadian LNG.”

According to Mrs. Smith, the federal government’s “planned phaseout of Alberta’s oil and gas sector will only result in higher net worldwide emissions, along with serious poverty and energy insecurity in Canada and abroad.”

‘Climate Justice’

Mr. Guilbeault has been meeting with his counterparts in Europe, Mexico, India, Japan, China, and other countries on climate issues in Brussels in advance of the annual COP meeting held by the United Nations.

“We can make COP28 the first COP to acknowledge the need to phase out unabated fossil fuels,” Guilbeault said after the meeting.

A number of countries that belong to the High Ambition Coalition, including Chile, Austria, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, and Germany, among others, issued a joint statement on July 14 calling for an “end” to the “fossil fuel era.”

“We must bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 or earlier, and chart a course at COP-28 to an urgent and just transition to renewables, a more climate resilient world, and climate justice for all,” the statement said.

“Creating a world that is resilient in the face of the climate crisis will require drastic adaptation efforts worldwide.”

Mrs. Smith said Alberta “will not recognize any federally imposed emission-reduction targets for our energy and electricity sectors under any circumstances unless such targets are first consented to by the Government of Alberta.”

“Nor will Alberta recognize any right of the federal government to legislate or regulate in this exclusive area of provincial jurisdiction, or any area of shared constitutional jurisdiction, without the explicit approval of Alberta,” said the premier.

She called on Trudeau to “instruct his involved ministers to respect the rights and jurisdiction of all provinces on this and other related matters, and to do a more effective job of building investor confidence in Canada’s oil and gas sector as profitable, certain and the most environmentally responsible on Earth.”