Brian Zinchuk: All out of CN towers to climb and economies to ruin, Guilbeault walks the plank

 

 

If there was any doubt about the gravity of the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding on a pipeline to the West Coast, it was solidified by the resignation of former Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault just hours after the signing.

If he quit because of the MOU, it must have some weight to it.

After all, he might have most recently been Minister of Heritage, but no one’s going to remember his impact in that portfolio.

No, it was the fact former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put a radical (and that’s putting it mildly) Greenpeace and environmental climate activist in as Minster of the Environment and Climate Change (can’t forget that last part) and made it, for a time, arguably the most powerful ministry in the Canadian government.

How is that? Because actions brought to bear under Guilbeault’s ministry sought to rework our entire society.

The minister who famously rode a bike and didn’t own a car yet flew to international climate conferences felt that farmers and ranchers didn’t need gasoline or diesel-powered trucks when checking their cattle at -40 C near Arran, Saskatchewan. His policies of mandated electric vehicle adoption and clean fuel regulations for anyone who didn’t follow said adoption. Those regulations sought to “decarbonize” fuels made of hydrocarbons. That’s like taking the H2O out of water.

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But it was his Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) which really took the cake. They sought to eliminate burning fossil fuels from power generations. Given that man discovering how to create and control fire is what brought us out of being cavemen, he literally figured he could do away with the most basic action of humanity in order to “save the planet.”

It’s no small coincidence that on a cold winter’s night in Alberta, hours before his prime minister signed the pipeline MOU and he submitted his resignation, 97 per cent of all power going to the grid was coming from the burning of natural gas. Wind output fell to 0.12 per cent output, and the sun was busy illuminating New Zealand at the time. If Guilbeault had way, 97 per cent of Albertans THAT VERY DAY would have been freezing in the dark.

This was Alberta’s power generation at 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 26 MC is maximum capacity in megawatts, This was less than 24 hours before Guilbeault announced his resignation. TNG is total net to grid, and DCR is dispatched and accepted contingency reserve. AESO

It’s stories like that which destroyed Guilbeault’s legitimacy. His lofty goals had no basis in practical reality.

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How many senior citizens could barely afford food in part because of inflation driven by the carbon tax Guilbeault championed? My own dad was seeing $186 of carbon tax per month on heating for his home and the small shop behind the house. Thank goodness we got rid of the shop. With just OAS and CPP, do you think in his 80s maybe he needed that money for other things? But no, we had to save the planet, after all.

It’s my understanding that my content on Pipeline Online is datamined not only in Regina, Edmonton and Calgary, but also Ottawa, making it into briefing notes at times. I’ve heard, but cannot confirm, that he hated my guts due to my reporting on the unreliability of wind and solar, and its implications for power grids in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Sure is tough, I guess, when your fantasies get a cold dose of reality thrown on them from some university drop-out in lowly Estevan. But hard numbers don’t lie, even if climate activists do.

That fossil fuels can be eliminated, both from power generation and transportation in less than a decade is one whopper of a lie.

And that our federal government was willing to follow along and try to force us to do just that was a leading reason why many in Western Canada have been talking increasingly loudly about separating from the rest of Canada. If the lunatics have been running the asylum, it might be time to leave said asylum.

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When I heard the news, these are the headlines I considered for this piece (please add your own headlines in the comments on social media):

Christmas does indeed come in November, as Guilbeault resigns

Ding, dong, the climate witch resigned

His legacy unravelled by Carney’s pipeline MOU, Guilbeault quits cabinet

Hot on the heels of returning from COP30, Guilbeault quits over pipeline MOU

At an end his reign is, and not short enough it was: Guilbeault quits (read it in Yoda’s voice)

Canada’s energy bogeyman quits over pipeline MOU

The climate house he built is falling to pieces, so Guilbeault quits

Climate warrior Steven Guilbeault undone by Carney’s pipeline MOU, resigns in protest

The guy who wanted you to freeze in the dark just quit cabinet

Arguably the man most hated by the Canadian energy sector (besides Trudeau) packs it in

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I could go on and on, but there’s serious work to be done to undo all the damage Guilbeault and his ilk have wrought upon our nation. If he had stayed in the environment ministry much longer, and continued the work to carry through his policies, we might have lost the country as a result. The Saskatchewan First Act was all about the Clean Electricity Regulations. If the feds were serious about shutting down all of our gas and coal plants by 2035, as originally envisioned, we would have had two options – ignore them, or leave the country.

So without further adieu, here is the verbatim text of Guilbeault’s statement on his resignation, which he ironically posted on Elon Musk-owned X.

Statement by Steven Guilbeault

This afternoon, it is with great sadness that I submitted my resignation to the Prime Minister as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, Minister of Nature and Parks Canada, as well as his Lieutenant in Quebec.

As you know, I chose to enter politics to champion the fight against climate change and the protection of the environment.

Over the past ten years, our country has made historic progress in reducing climate pollution, protecting nature and the environment, while our economy continued to grow. I believe I have contributed to these advancements, and I remain deeply proud of the achievements I have helped bring forward:

• Standing up to tech giants and major polluters
• Implementing Canada’s first emissions reduction plan, slowing their growth and placing them on a downward trajectory
• Establishing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
• Modernizing the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
• Developing the country’s first national climate adaptation strategy to protect our communities
• Eliminating harmful single-use plastics
• Implementing the most ambitious nature conservation plan in the country’s history
• Continuing the modernization of the Official Languages Act
• Making historic investments in arts and culture, including during the COVID-19 crisis and in the most recent budget

Changes in our relationship with the United States have led to profound disruptions affecting the global order, diplomatic relations, and the economy.

I understand and share the Prime Minister’s efforts to ensure our country remains united and that all regions feel they have a voice.

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  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
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Despite this difficult economic context, I remain one of those for whom environmental issues must remain front and center. That is why I strongly oppose the Memorandum of understanding between the federal government and the government of Alberta.

First, there was no consultation with the Indigenous nations of the West Coast of British Columbia or with the provincial government, who would be greatly affected by this agreement.

Furthermore, a pipeline to the West Coast would have major environmental impacts, particularly as it could cross the Great Bear Rainforest, contribute to a significant increase in climate pollution, and move Canada further away from its greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Lifting the tanker ban on the West Coast would also significantly increase the risk of accidents in the region. This moratorium was established in 1972 following a unanimous vote in the House of Commons, notably because navigation in the Hecate Strait is highly dangerous. Its removal would also hinder the creation of a marine conservation area in the Great Bear Sea, a project our government has been actively developing with Indigenous partners and the government of British Columbia for several years, protecting more than 100,000 km2 of this ecologically sensitive region.

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  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
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  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
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We cannot hope to decarbonize our economy without decarbonizing the electricity sector.

The proposal to exempt Alberta from the Clean Electricity Regulations in exchange for stricter industrial carbon pricing rules and the Pathways project is, in my view, a serious mistake.

As shown in the analysis submitted to the House of Commons, without this regulation, the electricity sector-which has halved its pollution over the past 20 years-would return to an upward emissions trajectory. This regulation also saves lives by reducing air pollution, generates over $3 billion in healthcare savings, and ultimately reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 182 million tonnes.

Additionally, introducing a new fossil fuel subsidy for enhanced oil recovery contradicts the framework adopted by the Liberal government in 2024 to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, while giving a competitive advantage to this industry at the expense of renewable energy and clean technologies.

 

Finally, over the past few months, several elements of the climate action plan I worked on as Minister of the Environment have been, or are about to be, dismantled: the consumer carbon pricing, the Zero Emission Vehicle standard, the oil and gas sector emissions cap, the framework to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, and the Clean Electricity Regulations. In my view, these measures remain essential to our climate action plan.

I want to express my sincere gratitude to the citizens of Laurier-Sainte-Marie for the trust they have placed in me since 2019. I will continue to represent them as their Liberal Member of Parliament with dedication.

I also thank the Prime Minister for the honor of serving in his cabinet and as his lieutenant in Quebec.

When I entered politics, it was because I had a deep conviction that I could make a difference in fighting climate change and protecting our environment. My commitment to leaving a better world for the future of our children and our planet remains unchanged.

 

Steven Guilbeault

Member of Parliament for Laurier-Sainte-Marie

 

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  0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
• 0092 Turnbull projects big and small
  0092 Turnbull projects big and small
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  0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
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  0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
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