Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vowed to fight Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s environmental initiatives with “all the power we have,” even leading the oil-rich province to challenge federal legislation.
A federal goal to reduce emissions from the country’s power grid to zero by 2035 and a plan to cut emissions from oil and gas companies by 42 percent this decade are unattainable for Alberta, Smith said Tuesday in an energy conference in Calgary. If necessary, the province will use the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act that was passed last year as a reason to ignore federal laws, Smith said. The constitutionality of the act has been widely disputed and its use can lead to legal proceedings.
“The constitution is very clear that we have the authority to develop our power grid, we have the authority to develop our resources,” Smith told reporters. “That’s what the Sovereignty Act is all about, making sure we defend our areas of jurisdiction.”
Smith’s United Conservative Party won 49 of the 87 seats in the provincial legislature in elections two weeks ago to form a majority government, defeating the left-leaning New Democratic Party. Smith is a vocal critic of Trudeau, and promises to push back against federal intervention in Alberta were a central theme of his campaign.
