A controversial piece of proposed federal legislation is causing fireworks between the Alberta government and Ottawa.
Touted as a just transition, the bill would disproportionately affect several carbon-intensive sectors in Alberta.
Alberta oil and gas has 187,000 workers in the sector, more than 36 percent of Alberta’s contribution to GDP.
To meet Ottawa’s emissions targets, the legislation would eliminate jobs in the following sectors, with the promise of transitioning workers to cleaner energy industries:
- Agriculture: 292,000 workers; 1.5 percent of employment in Canada;
- Forestry: 35,000 workers; zero percent of employment in Canada;
- Energy: 202,000 workers; one percent of employment in Canada;
- Production: 193,000 workers; one percent of employment in Canada;
- Buildings: 1.4 million workers; seven percent of employment in Canada; and
- Transport: 642,000 workers; three percent of employment in Canada.
Ottawa says the number of jobs in each sector refers to the numbers currently in place that could be affected by decarbonization, not job losses.
Premier Daniel Smith says the premier has not been involved in discussions with the province about the proposed legislation.
“He has no business dictating to us,” Smith said in an interview with CTV News on Tuesday.
“He doesn’t understand our economy. He doesn’t understand the industry.”
Smith says Justin Trudeau has only spoken to her once since she became prime minister.
“I had one conversation, which is a courtesy call, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where I told him that Alberta is on board with the idea of carbon neutrality,” Smith said.
Trudeau was asked about the just transition on Wednesday, but declined to divulge many details about it or the division it has caused.
“I know that workers in Alberta and across the country will be there to deliver for Canadians and the world,” Trudeau said.
“The energy workers we rely on, the natural resource workers, will continue to be essential parts of our economy moving forward and this Government will always be there to recognize their work and support them in a world, which changes.’
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley agrees with Smith that the legislation should be scrapped unless Albertans are consulted.
But Notley criticized Smith for being incompetent in her handling of the proposal, adding that she should work her way through consultations.
“Both the federal and provincial governments are to blame for the state of affairs,” she said.
She believes Ottawa needs to talk to ordinary Albertans about the transition proposal.
“This conversation should not happen in the absence of Albertans, on many fronts…Without us at the table, this is simply not acceptable. This is not the way to run the country,” she said.
Smith says the province will use every power it can, including the potential use of the Sovereignty Act, to ensure this future legislation does not impact Alberta.
“Just Transition is extreme environmental language,” Smith said.
“It was invented by extreme environmental groups who want to completely eliminate the oil, gas and fossil fuel sector. They (Ottawa) are using this knowing that this will be the way it is interpreted.
In interviews with the Canadian Press this week, the CEOs of some of Alberta’s biggest oil sands companies say shifting their workforces toward a net-zero emissions future isn’t about cutting jobs, it’s about creating them.
Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix says the oil sands consortium behind their companies’ decarbonisation alliance estimates that reaching their net-zero emissions target by 2050 will create 35,000 jobs.
Derek Evans, CEO of MEG Energy, says he’s actually worried that Canada doesn’t have the workforce to do the decarbonization job.
The Liberals have been promising similar legislation for more than three years and are expected to introduce it to the House of Commons sometime this year.
(With files from The Canadian Press)
Add Comment