Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Alberta’s recently announced plan to challenge the federal oil and gas emissions cap under the provincial Sovereignty Act is “irresponsible” and could lead companies to breach federal law.
Guilbeault’s comments were made in response to Alberta’s Nov. 26 announcement about a motion under its Sovereignty Act that would enable the province to implement countermeasures should Ottawa’s emissions cap become law. Those measures would include giving the province control over the disclosure and reporting of emissions-related data by oil and gas companies.
“Companies already have to report to the federal government in terms of their emissions. There are certain thresholds,” said Guilbeault during a Nov. 27 media scrum.
“If companies stop reporting to the federal government, they would be in violation of federal laws, something that I certainly wouldn’t advise to any large companies, especially oil and gas companies.”
Alberta’s proposed motion, described by the province as a “constitutional shield” against federal overreach, would enable an immediate constitutional challenge if the federal emissions cap comes into force. It would also bar provincial entities from enforcing the cap, and extend protections to oil and gas facilities under the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.
The province argues the emissions cap would have a “devastating impact” on the economy and livelihoods of its residents and Canadians by limiting oil and gas production, while Ottawa says the “pollution cap” will drive the industry to invest “record profits back into the sector.”
Guilbeault described the province’s plan as “irresponsible” and accused Smith of refusing to “recognize the threat posed by climate change.”
Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said her federal counterpart “knows” the emissions cap is “unconstitutional,” and rejected Guilbeault’s claim that the new motion would lead companies to violate federal legislation.
“I can tell you that Minister Guilbeault is lying,” Schulz said while speaking to reporters on Nov. 27. “He is lying, because he has to lie, because if he says anything else, he knows what we know, which is that his oil and gas production cap will be found unconstitutional when we challenge it in court.”
The Alberta government says the proposed legislation amounts to federal overreach because the province has exclusive jurisdiction over the development and management of non-renewable natural resources under the Constitution. Ottawa has said its environmental initiatives are legal because the federal government can adopt policies in areas of “national concern,” which it says includes climate change.
The emissions cap would require oil and gas companies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent below 2019 levels by 2032. It is part of the federal government’s plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Ottawa unveiled details of the proposed regulations on Nov. 4, with plans to fully implement it by 2026.
