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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Canadian Prime Minister Justin TrudeauYouTube

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a frosty reception in their first public face-to-face meeting yesterday, telling him bluntly that oil and gas are here to stay and that her province will not allow attacks on its energy industry to continue through his “just transition” green energy agenda.  

“I did write a letter to the Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago expressing concern about some of the major initiatives that have been announced without much consultation with Alberta that stand to have a huge impact on our province of a ‘just transition,’” Smith said yesterday while meeting with Trudeau.  

“It (the ‘just transition’ law) gives the impression that the energy sector is going to be phased, it’s not going to be phased out.” 

Trudeau nodded his head the entire time while Smith was talking but did say before she spoke that he was looking to “support” Alberta energy workers, adding that the “world needs” Alberta energy.  

Smith told Trudeau that any talk of an “early phaseout of natural gas” is not going to result “in a viable option for our province.”

She said to Trudeau that she was hoping to find some “common ground” on issues related to the province’s oil and gas sector.  

Perhaps more tellingly that Smith was not pleased with how the Trudeau federal government has treated Alberta’s oil and gas sector was the handshake between the two that preceded their meeting. 

Smith was clearly not interested in giving Trudeau attention, as could be deduced from their handshake.  

A video of the awkward handshake has gone viral on social media. It shows Trudeau go to shake Smith’s hand, but then she can be seen backing her hand down and away before he forced his thumb on her hand.   

Commentators were quick to come to Smith’s defense for the handshake after some left-leaning Twitter users complained she was not giving Trudeau respect.  

“If Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had completely left Trudeau hanging during ‘the handshake,’ it would have been truly epic. However, I give her ‘I don’t want to do this, and where’s the hand sanitizer’ look a solid B+, since she still conveyed a message,” tweeted Alberta political commentator Paul Mitchell. 

Dr. Jordan Peterson was quick to defend Smith’s handshake. 

“Give ’em hell, Danielle @ABDanielleSmith,” Peterson tweeted.  

Smith, along with all the other premiers of Canada, met with Trudeau to talk about healthcare funding for the provinces from the federal government.  

Canada’s premiers collectively asked the federal government to live up to its end of the bargain in healthcare funding after the total amount dropped from 35% to 22% in recent years.  

The meeting resulted in Trudeau offering a lower amount than the premiers had asked for in healthcare funding. 

Alberta demands Trudeau’s ‘just transition’ plan do away with calls for ending oil and gas  

A mid-January article from Blacklock’s Reporter reveals how Trudeau Liberals’ “Just Transition” plan could impact and threaten the jobs of some 2.7 million Canadians.   

The “just transition” green energy plan was announced in January by Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who informed citizens the federal government will be moving ahead with what it calls “just transition” legislation.   

The so-called “just transition” legislation will be designed to coerce workers in the oil and gas sector to transition into “green” jobs.   

Yesterday afternoon, Smith met privately with Trudeau for an additional 30 minutes after their initial public meeting.  

The Alberta government noted in a statement that at that meeting Smith outlined her province’s “expectations as to what must and must not be included in any future federal legislation.” 

One expectation was that any terminology suggesting a phaseout of the province’s oil and gas industry be scrapped.  

The government noted that Trudeau appeared to express a “willingness to explore” Alberta’s own oil and gas” strategy with the Premier through their respective ministers and the Premier will be following up with further correspondence regarding proposed next steps in the near future.” 

Last month, Smith said Trudeau’s “just transition” green energy agenda is really a scheme to “radically” restructure “societies” to redistribute wealth.   

She has promised to use “every tool at her disposal to stop Justin Trudeau’s” attacks on Alberta’s oil and gas industry.   

Alberta is not just home to the largest oil and gas reserves in Canada but also ranks fourth in the world for such reserves, behind only Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran, making the sector integral to the province’s economy and way of life.    

At this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, which Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland attended, the Canadian government announced it will join the global “First Movers” climate coalition, a WEF-linked initiative started by U.S. President Joe Biden.  

Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has pushed a radical “climate change” agenda that has increased costs for many products, primarily due to his imposition of a punitive and ever-increasing “carbon tax” on gas and diesel.    

The raising of fuel-related taxes has come in conjunction with the Trudeau government’s decision to join a variety of global initiatives, including the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” which involves phasing out or reducing the use of coal-fired power plants, nitrogen-rich fertilizers and natural gas.  

None of this has been done without criticism, however, as even a former Liberal Party MP has blasted Trudeau’s efforts as “beyond farcical” and “irresponsible.”   

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