Prime Minister Mark Carney lost a cabinet minister over his oil pipeline agreement with Alberta, marking the first major fracture in his Liberal Party caucus over the government’s energy policies.
Steven Guilbeault, a former environmental activist with Greenpeace, resigned his position as culture minister but will remain in Parliament.
In a statement posted on social media Thursday evening, Guilbeault panned the agreement reached with Alberta, saying the government failed to consult Indigenous communities and the pipeline would pose significant environmental risks.
“When I entered politics, it was because I had a deep conviction that I could make a difference in fighting climate change,” he wrote. “My commitment to leaving a better world for the future of our children and our planet remains unchanged.”
Guilbeault was first elected to office in 2019, and served as both heritage minister and environment minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also has a high profile in the province of Quebec, a crucial electoral battleground that helped Carney win government in this year’s election.
In his letter, Guilbeault noted that the government has dismantled much of his legacy as environment minister — repealing consumer carbon pricing, delaying a policy to encourage zero-emission vehicles and scrapping the oil and gas sector emissions cap.
Carney thanked his former minister in a statement late Thursday. “While we may have differing views at times on how exactly we make essential progress, I am glad Steven will continue to offer his important perspectives as a Member of Parliament in our Liberal caucus,” the prime minister said.
Quebec Voice
Earlier in the day, Carney had unveiled an agreement with Danielle Smith, premier of the oil-rich province of Alberta.
The document pledges federal government support for a new oil pipeline to Canada’s west coast and scraps some Trudeau-era environmental regulations in exchange for Alberta’s agreement to hike its industrial carbon price and help build a C$16.5 billion ($11.8 billion) carbon capture project for the oil sands.
Guilbeault was also Carney’s Quebec lieutenant, serving as the prime minister’s main spokesperson in the majority French-speaking province.
While a divisive figure in western Canada, Guilbeault is an influential politician in his home province, where support for climate policies tends to be stronger.
Quebec voters played an important role in Carney’s victory in the April election. The Liberals expanded their parliamentary seat count in the province, winning 44 of 78 seats, largely at the expense of the nationalist Bloc Quebecois, as voters rallied behind Carney in the face of perceived threats from the US.
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