‘I’m pissed’: Premier Smith fumes over feds’ planned emissions caps

Alberta premier Danielle Smith is not holding back in response to the federal government’s planned oil and gas emissions cap.

Ottawa unveiled details Monday on how it plans to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector — fulfilling a 2021 election promise from the Liberals to force the oil and gas industry to do its share in battling climate change.

The new regulations will require producers in Canada to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years.

In a news conference in response to the plan, a clearly angry Smith called the plan a “production cap” that will only hurt the country’s economy and vowed to fight the regulations.

“I’m pissed, I’m absolutely angry,” said Smith. “We’ve been working with these guys for two years, we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050.”

“They continue to act like they are working collaboratively with us, and then they come out with exactly the same policy that they put forward a year ago.”

Smith says her government will continue to fight the cap, which she claims will cause 150,000 workers across the country to lose their jobs and cost $28 billion in lost GDP.

She also claims a million barrels day of lost production that will cost Alberta anywhere from $3 billion to $7 billion per year in royalties.

“I’ll get my justice minister working on it immediately,” says Smith. “And we’ll start drafting a motion under the Sovereignty Act.”

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson say Ottawa’s plan will drive innovation and create jobs in the oil and gas sector.

Guilbeault said the oil and gas industry is a major source of emissions, but that it has done less than most other sectors to reduce them in the battle against climate change.

He accused the Alberta government of doing “stupid things,” and said Ottawa will continue to do things that will “help Canadians.”

“This is a vendetta,” said Smith in reference to Guilbeault. “He has a deranged vendetta against Alberta, it’s very obvious. He’s trying to find a way to get around what the constitution says.”

“He thinks he’s going to sneak one in and we won’t notice, well we noticed and we think the courts will notice.”

Last month, the Alberta government launched a national advertising campaign targeting Ottawa’s incoming cap.

The $7 million ‘Scrap the Cap’ campaign was aimed to inform Canadians about negative ramifications of the proposed cap, which she Smith has claimed is “ideological” and “irresponsible.”

Over the weekend at the UCP government’s annual general meeting (AGM), Smith said her government plans to double oil and gas production.

The premier also announced a renewed legal fight against the federal carbon levy and recently announced policy to have the Alberta government abandon net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets, while also removing carbon dioxide’s designation as a pollutant.

The regulations won’t be finalized for several months. and it’s possible that the next federal election will take place before they are actually in force. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to scrap the regulations.

With files from The Canadian Press