Premier Smith says ex-environment minister ‘deceived’ Canadians over pipeline claim

However, the Canada Energy Regular reported the pipeline appeared to be at about 76 per cent utilization as of December 2024.

“This is just another example of how misleading and destructive this former environment minister was to Alberta’s and Canada’s economy and investment climate,” Smith said in a post to X.

The premier called on Guilbeault’s successor Julie Dabrusin to “disavow his comments and commit to working with Alberta to build new pipelines to access new markets.”

Guilbeault’s comments on pipelines came a day after Carney indicated in an interview with CTV News that he’s open to building more pipelines if there is consensus across the country in favour of it.

On his way out of the cabinet meeting, Buckley Belanger, the newly appointed secretary of state for rural development, dismissed suggestions of mixed signals.

“We’re all united on that front and I think it’s fantastic for the oil and gas sector. Don’t forget, folks, we’re third worldwide in terms of production of oil and gas,” Buckley told reporters.

“We want to build on that success. So clearly, I think Alberta and Saskatchewan have a great opportunity to build on their … expertise in oil and gas and join the rest of Canada in strengthening our trade worldwide. Simple as that.”

Carney said during the election campaign he would keep the emissions cap in place, though Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Carney struck a different tone in a meeting with her around the same time.

Canada’s oil and gas sector has indicated no desire to build new pipelines under the current regulatory environment. Following the election, 38 Canadian oil and gas CEOs wrote to Carney calling on him to repeal the assessment law and scrap the emissions cap regulations.

— With files from The Canadian Press

by Eli J. Ridder

Premier Smith says ex-environment minister ‘deceived’ Canadians over pipeline claim

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