Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement in response to Canada’s new Environment Minister Terry Duguid’s plans to keep the emissions cap in place:

“Yesterday, in my discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney, I made it clear Alberta will no longer tolerate an emissions cap on oil and gas – which absolutely works like a production cap that scares away billions in investment and thousands of jobs, makes us more dependent on the United States, and has been found by Ottawa’s own Parliamentary Budget Office to be greatly destructive to the Canadian economy.

“The Prime Minister told me in yesterday’s meeting – and then later in his press conference with the media that same day – that he was not in favour of hard caps like that. He said he was interested in results – in getting projects like pipelines in the ground. That was good to hear because we all know you can’t fill new pipelines and cap oil production at the same time.

“The Prime Minister’s words sounded kind of nice yesterday – until I found out that his new environment minister had just told media on the other side of the country that the federal Liberals would be keeping the emissions cap in place.

“This has been the same story for the last 10 years. Liberals come to Alberta – smile for the cameras – tell everyone how much they are going to work with Alberta and support the energy sector. Then they leave, go home, and proceed to do everything in their power to roadblock and scare away investment from the energy sector.

“Now they are doing it when Canadians are literally demanding that we build new pipelines and production to become more independent from the United States. So, it’s time for the Prime Minister to be clear with Canadians – is he prepared to lift this job killing, destructive and unconstitutional production cap law that his predecessor attacked us with – or not?

“Albertans and Canadians want the answer before they go to the polls – not after. In fact, we want the answer today. Who wasn’t telling the truth yesterday – the Prime Minister or his environment minister? We all deserve to know.”

Alberta Update brings you the latest news on what’s happening in your province. We will hear from Premier Danielle Smith, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Rebecca Schulz, as well as the Minister of Justice Mickey Amery on this week’s top news: Alberta energy, Critical Infrastructure Defence Amendment Act, oil/gas cap, carbon tax and more. (Including Premier Smith’s thoughts on the emissions cap)

Premier Danielle Smith’s meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney

Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement following her meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney:

“At his request, I met with Prime Minister Mark Carney today. We had a very frank discussion in which I made it clear that Albertans will no longer tolerate the way we’ve been treated by the federal Liberals over the past 10 years. I provided a specific list of demands the next Prime Minister, regardless of who that is, must address within the first six months of their term to avoid an unprecedented national unity crisis. This includes:

• Guaranteeing Alberta full access to unfettered oil and gas corridors to the north, east, and west
• Repealing Bill C-69 (aka. “no new pipelines act”)
• Lifting the tanker ban off the B.C. coast
• Eliminating the oil and gas emissions cap, which is a production cap
• Scrapping the so-called Clean Electricity Regulations
• Ending the prohibition on single use plastics
• Abandoning the net-zero car mandate
• Returning oversight of the industrial carbon tax to the provinces
• Halting the federal censorship of energy companies

“I also made it clear that Alberta, as owner of the resource, will not accept an export tax or restriction of Alberta’s oil and gas to the United States, and that our province is no longer agreeable to subsidizing other large provinces who are fully capable of funding themselves. Lastly, I made it clear that federal mismanagement of Jasper and Banff national parks resulted in last year’s tragic wildfire in Jasper and is endangering Banff, and the situation must be rectified immediately.

“With the federal election about to be called, I encourage all Albertans to get involved in what is likely one of the most pivotal and important elections in our nation’s history, and to support the party and candidates that have consistently advocated for freeing Alberta from federal overreach and the repeated economic attacks our province has faced from Ottawa over the past 10 years.”