Alberta
Danielle Smith slams Trudeau’s methane emissions rules as ‘unrealistic,’ ‘unconstitutional’
From LifeSiteNews
‘Instead of building on Alberta’s award-winning approach, Ottawa wants to replace it with costly, dangerous and unconstitutional new federal regulations that won’t benefit anyone beyond Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault’s post-office career,’ a joint statement read
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith condemned the Trudeau government’s methane emissions cap as “unrealistic” and “unconstitutional.”
On December 4, Smith and Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz issued a joint statement blasting Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s new draft methane regulations.
“The federal government has unilaterally established new methane emissions rules and targets to help win international headlines,” the joint statement read.
“Instead of building on Alberta’s award-winning approach, Ottawa wants to replace it with costly, dangerous and unconstitutional new federal regulations that won’t benefit anyone beyond Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault’s post-office career,” it continued.
The proposed regulations, drafted December 4 after the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, restrict oil and gas methane emissions to allegedly reduce “climate change.”
“The proposed methane regulations are consistent with Canada’s commitment to cap and cut oil and gas emissions and with calls from the International Energy Agency for all oil- and gas-producing countries to reduce methane emissions from the sector by 75 percent by 2030,” the news release read.
Under the proposed plan, methane regulations must reduce by 217 megatonnes (carbon dioxide equivalent) from 2027 to 2040.
“Canada is on track to meet its 2025 methane reduction target of 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels,” the statement asserted. “The draft regulations published today are amendments to the 2018 methane regulations.”
In response to the regulations, Smith pointed out that Alberta has the autonomy to determine its own climate regulations without the direction of the Liberal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Managing emissions from Alberta’s oil and gas industry is our constitutional right and responsibility, not Ottawa’s, and we are getting the job done,” Smith declared. “Using a province-led approach, Alberta has already reduced methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 45 percent – hitting our target three years early – and we’re just getting started.”
“Meanwhile, not only is it illegal for Ottawa to attempt to regulate our industries in this manner, Ottawa also hasn’t even hit one of its past arbitrary and unscientific emissions targets,” she revealed.
“Once again, the federal government is setting unrealistic targets and timelines,” Smith added. “Infrastructure can only be updated as quickly as technology allows. For example, Alberta will not accept nor impose a total ban on flaring at this time, as it is a critical health and safety practice during production.”
“Given the unconstitutional nature of this latest federal intrusion into our provincial jurisdiction, our government will use every tool at our disposal to ensure these absurd federal regulations are never implemented in our province,” Smith concluded.
This is hardly the first time Smith has defended Alberta from Trudeau’s climate regulations. Smith has repeatedly asserted Alberta’s right to control power grid, promising the province will not be “transitioning away” from oil and natural gas.
Smith has warned that Canadians could freeze in the winter if the new “clean emissions” regulations are enforced, an assertion supported by Alberta’s electric grid operator, Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), which warned that Trudeau’s 2035 net-zero power grid goal will mean instability for the western province and are “not feasible.”
Two recent court rulings dealt a serious blow to the Trudeau government’s environmental activism via legislation. The most recent was in November when the Federal Court of Canada ruled in favor of Alberta and Saskatchewan and overturned the Trudeau government’s ban on single-use plastic, calling it “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”
The second victory for Alberta and Saskatchewan concerns a Supreme Court ruling that stated that Trudeau’s law, C-69, dubbed the “no-more pipelines” bill, is “mostly unconstitutional.” The decision returned authority over the pipelines to provincial governments, meaning oil and gas projects headed up by the provinces should be allowed to proceed without federal intrusion.
In May, Guilbeault declared that violating environmental regulations banning the use of coal and gas-fired power after 2035 may even result in criminal sanctions, a statement that only increased the tension between the federal government and the provinces opposed to the proposed policies.
Alberta
Alberta government should eliminate corporate welfare to generate benefits for Albertans
From the Fraser Institute
By Spencer Gudewill and Tegan Hill
Last November, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government will give up to $1.8 billion in subsidies to Dow Chemicals, which plans to expand a petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton. In other words, $1.8 billion in corporate welfare.
And this is just one example of corporate welfare paid for by Albertans.
According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2007 to 2021, the latest year of available data, the Alberta government spent $31.0 billion (inflation-adjusted) on subsidies (a.k.a. corporate welfare) to select firms and businesses, purportedly to help Albertans. And this number excludes other forms of government handouts such as loan guarantees, direct investment and regulatory or tax privileges for particular firms and industries. So the total cost of corporate welfare in Alberta is likely much higher.
Why should Albertans care?
First off, there’s little evidence that corporate welfare generates widespread economic growth or jobs. In fact, evidence suggests the contrary—that subsidies result in a net loss to the economy by shifting resources to less productive sectors or locations (what economists call the “substitution effect”) and/or by keeping businesses alive that are otherwise economically unviable (i.e. “zombie companies”). This misallocation of resources leads to a less efficient, less productive and less prosperous Alberta.
And there are other costs to corporate welfare.
For example, between 2007 and 2019 (the latest year of pre-COVID data), every year on average the Alberta government spent 35 cents (out of every dollar of business income tax revenue it collected) on corporate welfare. Given that workers bear the burden of more than half of any business income tax indirectly through lower wages, if the government reduced business income taxes rather than spend money on corporate welfare, workers could benefit.
Moreover, Premier Smith failed in last month’s provincial budget to provide promised personal income tax relief and create a lower tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 to provide $760 in annual savings for Albertans (on average). But in 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the Alberta government spent $2.4 billion on corporate welfare—equivalent to $1,034 per tax filer. Clearly, instead of subsidizing select businesses, the Smith government could have kept its promise to lower personal income taxes.
Finally, there’s the Heritage Fund, which the Alberta government created almost 50 years ago to save a share of the province’s resource wealth for the future.
In her 2024 budget, Premier Smith earmarked $2.0 billion for the Heritage Fund this fiscal year—almost the exact amount spent on corporate welfare each year (on average) between 2007 and 2019. Put another way, the Alberta government could save twice as much in the Heritage Fund in 2024/25 if it ended corporate welfare, which would help Premier Smith keep her promise to build up the Heritage Fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050.
By eliminating corporate welfare, the Smith government can create fiscal room to reduce personal and business income taxes, or save more in the Heritage Fund. Any of these options will benefit Albertans far more than wasteful billion-dollar subsidies to favoured firms.
Authors:
Alberta
Official statement from Premier Danielle Smith and Energy Minister Brian Jean on the start-up of the Trans Mountain Pipeline
-
Addictions1 day ago
City of Toronto asks Trudeau gov’t to decriminalize hard drugs despite policy’s failure in BC
-
COVID-192 days ago
Canada’s COVID vaccine injury program has paid out just 6% of claims so far
-
Business1 day ago
When politicians gamble, taxpayers lose
-
Automotive1 day ago
Vehicle monitoring software could soon use ‘kill switch’ under the guise of ‘safety’
-
National1 day ago
British Columbia quickly shoots down bill to ban men from competing in women’s sports
-
Economy20 hours ago
Ottawa’s homebuilding plans might discourage much-needed business investment
-
Alberta20 hours ago
Alberta government should eliminate corporate welfare to generate benefits for Albertans
-
International2 days ago
U.S. birth rate hit record low last year, signaling surge in childlessness