Alberta Premier Smith Asks Federal Environment Minister to ‘Disavow’ Guilbeault’s Comments on Pipelines

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers a speech prior to a fireside chat during a Canada Strong and Free Network event in Ottawa on April 12, 2024. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reacted to federal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault’s comments about Canada not needing new pipelines, a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney said they could be built if there is a consensus.

Before the first meeting of the new federal cabinet on May 14, Guilbeault said there is no reason to build new pipelines if the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline is only operating at 40 percent capacity. He added global demand for oil is estimated to peak by 2028–2029.

Later that day, Smith issued a statement saying that Trans Mountain is “already close to capacity.” She also said demand for bitumen, or oil sands produced in Alberta, would keep growing to replace declining conventional U.S. oil fields.

Smith said these types of comments by Guilbeault were an example of how he had been an obstacle to Alberta during his tenure as environment minister. Guilbeault was shuffled out of the role by Carney in March and put in charge of the Canadian heritage portfolio.

“We ask for the new environment minister [Julie Dabrusin] to disavow his comments and commit to working with Alberta to build new pipelines to access new markets,” Smith said.

Canada Energy Regulator data from December 2024 shows the Trans Mountain pipeline was operating at 76 percent capacity. The pipeline has a capacity of 890,000 barrels per day, and the operator’s vice president said in February the company is looking at expanding capacity by between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels per day.

The latest spat between Smith and Guilbeault comes after a federal election campaign heavily focused on strengthening Canada’s economy in the face of U.S. tariffs. Carney has pledged to speed up the approval of major projects, and said Canada needed to develop more projects for “clean and conventional energy.”

Canada’s most valuable export is crude oil and most of the production flows south to the United States. There is also no pipeline connecting Alberta and Eastern provinces, which are dependent on U.S. operators.

Carney made his most favourable comments to building new pipelines during an interview with CTV News on May 13. He said they could be built if there is a consensus and that as prime minister he could help create it.

Asked by reporters about the matter before the cabinet meeting, Guilbeault pushed back.

“People should remember that we bought a pipeline, Trans Mountain, and that is only used right now at about 40 percent capacity,” he said. “So I think before we start talking about building an entire new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure.”

Guilbeault also said there are no investors to build an East-West pipeline. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said during the election campaign there is no investor because of federal laws like the Impact Assessment Act (formerly known as Bill C-69) that make it difficult to build major infrastructure.

Carney told CTV News he’s open to making changes to the Impact Assessment Act, to help move projects ahead. He has however insisted that his government will maintain the legislation, despite objection by Premier Smith.

Guilbeault wasn’t as committed to making changes to the law, saying “these are important conversations that we will need to have in the coming weeks.”

Taking over the environment portfolio in Carney’s new cabinet is Toronto MP Julie Dabrusin. She had no immediate public comment and The Epoch Times reached out to her department but didn’t immediately hear back.

Dabrusin had served as a parliamentary secretary to Guilbeault in previous years. Guilbeault noted her work in fighting “big polluters” at his side in a message on social media congratulating her on the new appointment.

Smith’s reaction to Guilbeault came a few days after she announced Alberta is indefinitely freezing the carbon tax on industry at $95 per tonne. Provinces are allowed to have their own carbon pricing systems, but the benchmark is set by Ottawa. The price is expected to rise by $15 a year to reach $170 per tonne in 2030.

Smith said the carbon price for businesses has become “too high to bear” and is negatively impacting competitiveness at a time of heightened economic uncertainty. Environment Canada reacted by saying that when a province makes a significant change to its system, the federal government has to reassess the “stringency of that system against benchmark standards.”

Alberta’s premier had sparred with Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, over policies impacting the province, and she invited the new prime minister to “reset” the relationship after his April 28 election win.

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith stated on social media her first meeting with Carney after the election was “positive,” saying he agreed to move forward nation building projects such as increasing market access for Alberta’s oil.

Carney responded to Smith’s post by saying the two leaders are “focused on bringing down the cost of living and increasing opportunities in the energy sector for hard working Albertans.”

Carolina Avendano contributed to this report.