In an open letter Thursday to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Said she looks forward to working collaboratively on legislation that creates and maintains sustainable jobs.
Smith has vocally opposed the federal government’s proposed “Just Transition” legislation, saying she would fight the “Just Transition Idea with every tool at Alberta’s disposal”.
Now, Smith is formally inviting Trudeau to meet so they can come up with a plan together.
Smith said, “We can continue with endless court challenges, legislation to protect jurisdictional rights and inflammatory media coverage of our disagreements, or, as is my strong preference, Alberta and Ottawa can work in partnership. “
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According to Ottawa, the ‘Just Transition’ plan includes “helping industries adopt clean technology and transition to net zero emissions”, which includes carbon capture and storage; and reducing oil and gas pollution by limiting industry emissions.
Smith said she wants to meet with Trudeau in February and ministers and officials from both levels of government meet frequently in the coming months to reach a joint agreement on the legislation so that it can be introduced and passed by the end of spring .
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Smith outlined several requests for legislation.
Smith’s first request is that the verbiage “Just Transition” be dropped and instead the act be renamed the “Sustainable Jobs Act”—a phrase that Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson already uses.
She wants the legislation to encourage investments in the traditional energy sector as well as “clean” fossil fuel technologies such as carbon capture use and storage, combustion beyond bitumen, petrochemicals, hydrogen, as well as lithium, helium, geothermal and near-zero technology. encourage the Emission vehicles and nuclear.
Smith’s more requests are that the act not be designed to phase out the existing oil and gas sector and workforce and that the federal government expand exports to Asia and Europe.
Finally, she wants the government to promise that Alberta and Canada can work together to set “reasonable and meaningful emissions reduction targets” and that Canada will support the province’s energy, agriculture and other industrial sectors going forward. But the target will not give.
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Smith said she wants the legislation to achieve the following objectives: to reduce Canada and Alberta’s net emissions, to encourage investment in “clean” fossil fuel technology, to attract workers to the existing energy sector and to maintain and increase exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to other countries.
“Prime Minister, all of the above objectives need to be clearly articulated and integrated into any federal legislation or policies your government seeks to enact in the coming months, or that legislation will face irrevocable opposition from Alberta Will have to,” Smith said.
“I really don’t want to see that happen.”
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Opposition NDP leader Rachel Notley said that although Smith’s listed objectives are “laudable”, investors and workers do not think he is credible because of his “belligerent and inflammatory position to date”.
“This late pivot will do nothing to restore Albertans’ faith in Smith’s ability to engage productively at the table discussing the future of our economy.”
—Meghan Archer, with files from Global News
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