Article content
Alberta has no intention of following a federal plan to transfer energy workers, Premier Daniel Smith said Saturday.
Article content
The prime minister, on his Saturday morning radio show, said it was not yet clear what the Liberal government was proposing with “just transition” legislation aimed at helping workers find new jobs in a low-carbon economy.
Article content
“We are not going to shut down our oil and gas industry. We will not transfer our workers, who are in good, well-paid, meaningful and important jobs, to installing solar panels, which is the idiocy (federal Green Party leader) Elizabeth May first proposed when this sort of thing came up Smith told listeners.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told the CBC last week that the Liberals’ transition bill, which will target “sustainable” jobs, will be introduced early this year.
Article content
The province says it has not received information from the federal government
Smith said she has had no communication with Ottawa about the intent of the legislation.
“It doesn’t help when (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) continues to shoot us in the nose without even picking up the phone and calling us to tell us what he means,” she said.
Smith said job growth in the energy sector will come in areas such as oil well remediation, hydrogen development and carbon capture that the province has been making progress on for more than a decade.
-
Varcoe: Ottawa’s ‘just transition’ rhetoric contributes to labor crisis
-
What net zero looks like and what it could mean for Canada
“If that’s what the prime minister is talking about, helping our oil and gas workers find other jobs in related industries, then we can work with him, but we’re not going to close that industry.”
Smith said the province is instead continuing to evaluate expanding oil and gas production while advancing carbon technology to reduce emissions.
“That’s the mindset we have to get into. That’s what we’re up against in Ottawa. They think the solution is closure, and they are wrong.
Add Comment