Guilbeault: Alberta and Ottawa Can Reach an Agreement on Climate Policy

Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of the Environment, faces significant opposition from the newly re-elected Alberta government, as well as personal difficulties in his efforts to promote the government’s climate change program.

Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith said she is “very frustrated by the posture” Guilbeault adopted against her province. In her acceptance speech on election night, she vowed that Alberta would not be impacted by federal policies that she believes would be harmful to Alberta’s energy sector.

The Canadian government is effectively collaborating with Alberta on several topics, such as biodiversity and tailings pond restoration, said Guilbeault in an interview with CBC’s The House on Saturday.

The federal government’s proposed emissions cap for the oil and gas industry has come under criticism from Smith. This cap is set to go into effect by the end of the year. Smith has stated that this would be a “de facto production cap” and that it would have a devastating effect on the Alberta economy.

“I’m very optimistic that with technology we’ll solve the problem,” said Smith earlier this week. “But if you short-circuit that and try to achieve an unachievable target too early, you end up chasing investment away.”

According to Guilbeault, government regulation played a role in guiding technological progress.

“I mean, what will drive technological investment in de-carboniation is regulation,” said Guilbeault. “By putting in place smart regulations, we are ensuring in fact that those investments will be made so that we have jobs in Alberta in the energy sector 20 years, 25 years, 30 years down the road.”

He also added that the next draft of regulations on an emissions cap will be subject to discussion and debate.

“But we need [the emissions cap] for a number of different reasons.”

“In a carbon-constrained world, we will still need some oil even all the way to 2050. But what those people who still buy oil and gas will be looking for is oil that has a very low carbon footprint.”

Alberta’s compliance with new pieces of policy like the carbon cap is “not a conversation I want to have,” said Guilbeault.

According to the Minister of Environment, all provinces and territories have complied with the federal carbon tax, either by developing their own methods or by sticking to the federal backstop.

“I’m not saying everybody’s happy, I’m saying everyone’s doing it,” he said.