The threat that federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault poses to Canadians cannot be underestimated. The Premiers of both Saskatchewan and Alberta have warned that Guilbeault’s radical “climate change” agenda could land energy executives, provincial Ministers, or even the Premiers themselves in prison for exceeding federal carbon emissions standards.
That’s what I think a lot of the generators I talked to, are worried about. They know that this — I’m not sure why the public has or most media coverage hasn’t got down to understanding… This is jail time, they’re using criminal law power to potentially throw some electricity company generators in jail, if these targets are not met by 2035. Is there any wonder there’s a chill in natural gas generating plants? It’s no surprise to me.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Western Standard, August 24, 2023
after environmentalists scaled the CN Tower on July 16, 2001.
Photo: AARON HARRIS/THE CANADIAN PRESS
As bizarre as this is, it is also no surprise. Guilbeault has been a radical “global warming” activist since childhood. He was arrested in 2001 after scaling Toronto’s CN Tower to protest Canada’s rejection of the 1997 Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.1 He was a member of Greenpeace whose very co-founder, Dr. Patrick Moore Ph.D., eventually abandoned the organization when, in his words, it became “hijacked” by radical political activists pushing “fear and guilt” to gain “power and control.”2 (Moore has since been attacked by the environmentalist movement for exposing the political agenda behind climate change fear-mongering.3 )
When Guilbeault was promoted by the Prime Minister to Minister of Environment, Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner warned:
“Justin Trudeau appointed an ideological anti-energy activist,” she said in a statement, claiming that Guilbeault had fought “to shut down entire industries.”
National Post, October 30, 2021
Fast forward two short years later and that’s precisely what Guilbeault appears determined to do, particularly with Alberta’s oil industry and Saskatchewan’s coal mines.
If I want to bring on a natural gas power plant, the federal government has said it must be 95% emissions-free by 2035. What if it’s only 80% emissions-free? We have to be able to de-risk that so that the proponent building it knows that they’re not going to be going to jail if for some reason they fall short.
Premier Danielle Smith, Western Standard, August 24, 2023
Earlier this year, when asked about the potential legal ramifications of running coal-fired power plants past 2030 in violation of federal regulations, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe retorted: “Come get me!”4 Guilbeault told CBC News that banning coal by 2030 “is a criminal tool that the federal government has. So not complying with this regulation would be a violation of Canada’s Criminal Code.”4
In many ways… I’m still this guy who climbed the CN Tower… civil disobedience was never a goal in and of itself. It was just a tool. And now I’m using different tools.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, National Post, October 30, 2021
That’s now crystal clear. Aside from throwing political foes into prison, another of Guilbeault’s tools is to cap oil production, despite his promise in 2021 when he said, “We’re not trying to cap production. We will be capping the amount of pollution that comes from those sectors.”5 But Premier Smith blasted the utter hypocrisy in this given Guilbeault’s support of China, one of the largest polluters in the world.
While advising the Chinese Communist Party about its environmental policies, Minister Guilbeault stated that, due to an Alberta oil and gas company’s decision to focus on oil and gas production, he has increased his resolve to introduce an emissions cap that will effectively force energy companies to cap their oil and gas production.
Western Standard, August 30, 2023
Efforts by Alberta’s environment minister to communicate this to her federal counterpart have been fruitless.
I have made the effort to meet and communicate with Minister Guilbeault at all available opportunities to try to drive home the point that his policies are disastrous for Albertans and their financial well-being. Unfortunately, Minister Guilbeault has refused to listen.
Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz, Western Standard, August 31
And not just financial well-being. In Canada’s harsh winter climate, a reliable power-grid is not a convenience but essential for survival. Wherever countries have begun to lean on unreliable power sources such as wind or solar, the power grid has been destabilized, putting millions of lives at risk.6
I’m willing to bet that when I go to court, if they do try to force this issue, they [The Supreme Court] will not allow the people of Alberta to freeze to death in the dark in minus-30 degree weather. I’m willing to bet that even the Supreme Court justices will be persuaded by that argument, especially since 2050 is our target and we’re making our best efforts to get there.
Premiere Danielle Smith, Western Standard, August 24, 2023
Nonetheless, Albertans would be forgiven for thinking that the Prime Minister is launching a soft war on the province. In remarks that shock the sensibilities to this day, Justin Trudeau said while running for MP:
“Canada isn’t doing well right now because it’s Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda. It doesn’t work.” [Interviewer] Lagace then asked Trudeau if he thought Canada was “better served when there are more Quebecers in charge than Albertans?” Trudeau replied: “I’m a Liberal, so of course I think so, yes. Certainly when we look at the great prime ministers of the 20th century, those that really stood the test of time, they were MPs from Quebec… This country – Canada – it belongs to us.”
Justin Trudeau to French interviewer Patrick Lagace on the Tele-Quebec program Les francs-tireurs (The Straight Shooters); Macleans, November 2010
Neither Trudeau nor his Environment Minister, Guilbeault, appear any less determined now than they were then to neuter Western Canada (as if it is an enemy of Confederation). This is no longer about “left” or “right” but a humans rights issue being waged by Ottawa’s dangerous ideologues. The fact that Guilbeault, under the veil of “environmentalism,” would promote the destruction of prime farmland, birds, bats, the environment and human health through industrial wind plants, clearly exposes Guilbeault as as reckless ideologue, not an environmentalist.
Canadians cannot afford to remain in the dark because, before they know it, they literally may be — if Guilbeault and Trudeau have their way.
- nationalpost.com[↩]
- lifesitenews.com[↩]
- cf. Hot Air Behind the Wind[↩]
- May 18, 2023; cbc.ca[↩][↩]
- cbc.ca[↩]
- cf. politico.eu[↩]
Mark Mallett is a former award-winning reporter with CTV Edmonton and an independent researcher and author. His family homesteaded between Vermilion and Cold Lake, Alberta, and now resides in the Lakeland region. Mark is Editor in Chief of Wind Concerns.