Smith and Moe Object to Guilbeault’s Role in CCP Group While Forcing Domestic Net-Zero Targets

(L–R) Alberta’s United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith in Calgary, Alta., on May 29, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh); Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 17, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby); Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe at a press conference at the provincial legislative building in Regina on Oct. 27, 2020. The Canadian Press/Michael Bell

The provincial premiers at odds with Ottawa over energy policies have taken aim at federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for his role in a Beijing-linked environmental group and his upcoming visit to China, which is the world’s largest polluting country.

“After a recent news report that Minister Steven Guilbeault is a vice-chair of a CCP environmental group, I am concerned why the Minister wants to force Alberta to 2035, but it is okay with China getting there by 2060,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in an Aug. 17 post on the platform X, previously known as Twitter.

Ms. Smith was apparently referring to net-zero carbon emissions objectives. The Clean Energy Regulations requires the provinces to reach net-zero emissions in their electrical grid by 2035, with Ottawa’s objective being overall net-zero emissions by 2050. China’s stated goal is to reach net-zero by 2060, with no objective to reach net-zero in the electrical grid by any specific target date.

Mr. Guilbeault will visit China from Aug. 26 to 31 to participate in the annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), a state organ presided over by a top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official.

Mr. Guilbeault is the international executive vice chairperson of the CCICED, a body that was established with the help of Canada in 1992. By virtue of being its largest international donor, Canada can appoint such a chairperson.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said on social media that Ms. Smith has a “good point.”

“Why is a Canadian Minister serving on an advisory council created by the Communist Party government of China?” he said on Aug. 17.

Ms. Smith and Mr. Moe have continuously sparred with Ottawa over its energy policies seeking to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons, an engine of the provinces’ economies.

First Visit Since 2018

Mr. Guilbeault participated in the annual meeting of the CCICED last year, albeit remotely. His visit to China will be the first by a cabinet minister since 2018.

Relations between Canada and China went sideways in December 2018 when Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou in response to a U.S. extradition request. Beijing retaliated by arbitrarily detaining Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Environment Canada has framed Mr. Guilbeault’s visit around advancing work on the environment, but the minister told Radio-Canada on Aug. 16 that he also hopes to rebuild ties with China. He added that a summer of severe weather could make Canadians more favourable to the Beijing trip to discuss climate change.

The Canadian government says the visit is in line with its Indo-Pacific Strategy released in 2022, seeking to challenge China on some issues but cooperate on others like the environment.

Conservatives have also criticized the trip and called for Mr. Guilbeault to resign from his role with the CCIED.

“Trudeau’s Minister is flying off to hang out with the same regime that interfered in our elections,” said Tory House Leader Andrew Scheer on social media.

“He’s also sending this Beijing-controlled group more than $16M of your tax dollars!”

Canada finances the CCICED to the tune of $1.6 million a year, with money allocated until 2027. The amount cited by Mr. Scheer refers to the current and previous five-year envelopes.

In response to concerns that the CCICED is a Chinese regime organ, Mr. Guilbeault’s office has called it “an independent international forum, similar to forums established by the U.S. and the E.U.”