New Alberta Bill Would Keep Federal Workers From Accessing Oil and Gas Emissions Data

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Edmonton Leader’s Dinner at the Edmonton Convention Centre on March 19, 2025. Carolina Avendano/The Epoch Times

EDMONTON–The Alberta government is seeking to amend its critical infrastructure defence law to prevent federal workers from going to oil sector sites and collecting data.

The bill comes at a time when the federal government is introducing regulations to cap emissions in the oil and gas sector. Alberta says this in effect amounts to a cap on production in the sector, which the feds dispute.

The proposed changes to the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA) would update the definition of “essential infrastructure” to include facilities where information on oil and gas emissions and production are kept, the province said in a March 19 press release.

The existing legislation creates offences for trespassing, interfering with operations, or causing damage to infrastructure deemed essential. The proposed amendments would explicitly state the act applies to the federal government, officials said.

On the day the province announced the amendments, Premier Danielle Smith said her government would “defend Alberta“ from the Liberal government and that the amendments to CIDA will ”deny federal workers access to our facilities and the emissions information.” She made the remarks at the Edmonton Leader’s Dinner, an annual fundraising event held by the province’s United Conservative Party.

She said the damage from U.S. tariffs “pales in comparison” to the impact of Ottawa’s policies on Alberta’s economy, and reiterated her previous characterization of the federal emissions cap as a “production cap.”

Smith added that Alberta will seek to double its oil and gas production “to meet a growing global demand for energy.”

Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir called the measure “political grandstanding,” while accusing the government of putting industry in the position of being told to breach federal law.

“Even a first-year law student will tell you that one order of government, especially the province of Alberta, cannot bind the government of Canada with its legislation,” Sabir told reporters.

Ottawa last November released details of its proposed oil and gas emissions cap, which is part of the federal plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The cap would require oil and gas companies to lower their greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent below 2019 levels by 2032. The new regulations are expected to be published this spring and, if passed, are expected to come into force in 2026.

Former Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has argued that the measures are necessary because oil and gas sector accounts for a third of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. According to the most recent National Inventory Report, the sector accounted for 31 percent of emissions in 2022, making it the country’s largest contributor to emissions.

Alberta has strongly opposed the measure, arguing it amounts to “unconstitutional federal overreach,” as the province has exclusive jurisdiction over the development of non-renewable resources. Meanwhile, the federal government says it has the authority to enforce measures on issues of national concern, citing climate change.

A March 12 report by the Parliamentary Budget Office found that for the emissions cap to reach its target, oil and gas production would have to decline by 4.9 percent from 2030 to 2032, potentially resulting in more than 54,000 job losses and a decline in nominal GDP of $20.5 billion by 2032.

The province says the proposed amendments to its critical infrastructure defence bill are in line with the Alberta Sovereignty Act motion, passed last December, which dictates that all emissions data “be exclusively owned” by the province. Smith last year said her government would challenge the constitutionality of the emissions cap if it becomes law.

The proposed amendments would also enshrine in legislation the designation of Alberta’s two-kilometre-deep border zone with the United States as essential infrastructure. Announced last December amid threats of U.S. tariffs over border security concerns, the zone is part of Alberta’s strategy to combat the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants across the border, allowing authorities to arrest offenders without a warrant.

Edmonton Leader’s Dinner

At the March 19 fundraising event, Smith called Canada’s upcoming general election, set to occur no later than Oct. 20, “the most pivotal” in decades. She said the energy policies implemented by a newly elected prime minister will determine whether the province can unlock its economic potential.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Edmonton Leader’s Dinner at the Edmonton Convention Centre on March 19, 2025. Carolina Avendano/The Epoch Times

The premier endorsed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for prime minister, arguing that current Prime Minister Mark Carney’s climate policies could hinder the oil and gas sector.

Shortly after being sworn in, Carney signed a directive to reduce the consumer carbon tax rate to zero. During the Liberal leadership campaign, he proposed replacing the consumer carbon tax with incentives for greener choices, saying that Canadians were bearing the costs of large industrial emitters, and pledging to instead make “big polluters pay.” Smith has said that shifting the carbon tax from consumers to industries would be “just as damaging.”

Smith also discussed at the event how her province is responding to newly imposed tariffs from China and the United States.

When asked how the province would protect farmers from Chinese tariffs on Canadian goods, which took effect on March 20, the premier said the province was working to find new markets in countries like South Korea and Japan.

China on March 8 announced 100 percent tariffs on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes, and pea imports, as well as 25 percent levies on Canadian seafood and pork. This came after Canada last October imposed 100 percent import duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles and 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel products.

Smith said many of her ministers have been on trade missions to South Korea and Japan, and that she will be going to Japan next month to build on their work.

“We just signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan to cooperate on energy issues,” she said, referring to the agreement she signed with the chairman of Japanese state-owned corporation JOGMEC on March 11 in Texas.

“I’d like to do something similar on food issues with both Japan and South Korea, and other markets where we know that those are going to be high-value products.”

United Conservative Party sign displayed at the Edmonton Leader’s Dinner on March 19, 2025. Carolina Avendano/The Epoch Times

On U.S. tariffs, Smith said the measures “hurt families and businesses on both sides of the border”  by raising consumer costs and “damaging supply chains.”

She added that the United States “needs” Alberta oil, and that Alberta would consider increasing energy exports to the country to supply demand “if and only if we have a mutually beneficial free trade deal that it is honoured by both parties.”

The Edmonton event saw 1,500 attendees, according to the party, marking an increase of around 300 from last year and 500 more than two years ago.

Tickets were priced at $350 each. The next fundraising dinner is scheduled for March 29 in Calgary at the Telus Convention Centre.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.