Kenney says longtime activist's appointment as environment minister sends 'very problematic' message
CBC
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says the federal government's choice for minister of environment and climate change Tuesday sends a "very problematic" message to the province.
Longtime environmental activist and former Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault will take on the prominent role in cabinet as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals attempt to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
The Quebec MP once worked as a senior member of Greenpeace, and was arrested in 2001 for scaling Toronto's CN Tower in an attempt to draw attention to climate change.
WATCH | Steven Guilbeault scaled CN Tower as Greenpeace activist in 2001:
Guilbeault has vocally opposed pipelines and also co-founded the environmental non-profit Équiterre, which was cited as a participant in anti-Alberta energy campaigns in the United Conservative Party's controversial Allan Report. Guilbeault himself was mentioned in the report by name six times.
On Tuesday, Kenney expressed concern over his appointment as minister of environment and climate change.
"I certainly hope that [Guilbeault] … will quickly demonstrate to Alberta, and other resource-producing provinces, a desire to work together constructively on practical solutions that don't end up killing hundreds of thousands of jobs," Kenney said.
"But his own personal background and track record on these issues suggest somebody who is more of an absolutist than a pragmatist when it comes to finding solutions."
Duane Bratt, a political scientist with Mount Royal University, put it more bluntly.
"Kenney's head is gonna explode," he said. "This is really a finger in the eye to everything that Kenny has done."
According to Bratt, Guilbeault, who was a star recruit for the federal Liberals in 2019, desperately wanted to be the environment minister.
"I think Trudeau would have put him in that spot in 2019, except for the shellacking they took out in the prairies," he said.
Jonathan Wilkinson had the job, but was shuffled on Tuesday to become minister of natural resources, which makes him another notable appointment for Alberta.
Kenney said Tuesday that Wilkinson's relationship with Alberta had been "constructive" during his tenure as environment minister.
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