(LifeSiteNews) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault drew a dubious link between his nation’s oil and gas sector and wildfires during his visit to China, sparking even more outrage among those who already opposed his visiting the communist country.
During his visit to Communist China last week to partake in climate conferences, Guilbeault was quoted by The Canadian Press as having attacked the Canadian energy sector and linking it to wildfires.
Guilbeault said that he was “disappointed” that Suncor CEO Rich Kruger – Suncor is a Calgary based company which provides natural resources for all of Canada – held that the company should focus primarily on producing oil rather than lowering carbon emissions particularly when “tens of thousands of Canadians” were forced to flee from wildfires in July.
“To see the leader of a great Canadian company say that he is basically disengaging from climate change and sustainability, that he’s going to focus on short-term profit, it’s all the wrong answers,” Guilbeault asserted.
“If I was convinced before that we needed to do regulation, I am even more convinced now,” he continued.
Guilbeault’s claim that “climate change” is the cause of wildfires comes as Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested arsonists who have been charged with lighting fires across the country, including in the Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta.
In Quebec, satellite footage also showed the mysterious simultaneous eruption of several blazes across the province, sparking concerns that the fires were a coordinated effort by arsonists.
Despite these odd findings, the Trudeau government and mainstream media continue to claim the fires are unprecedentedly dangerous and caused by “climate change,” in what many see as an attempt to justify the further passing of regulations on natural resources.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith condemned Guilbeault’s statement, writing, “Minister Guilbeault’s comments are a continuation of his provocative verbal attacks on Alberta’s energy sector, the most environmentally responsible and ethical energy-producing jurisdiction in the world.”
“His involvement in the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development has him turning a blind eye to China’s environmental record while they add the equivalent of two new coal-fired electricity plants each week,” she continued.
“Under no scenario will the Government of Alberta permit the implementation of the proposed federal electricity regulations or contemplated oil and gas emissions cap,” she added.
“Ottawa has no constitutional authority to regulate in these areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction,” she warned. “We would strongly suggest the federal government refrain from testing our government’s or Albertans’ resolve in this regard.”
My statement on further attacks by the federal government on Alberta’s energy sector:
“Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault @s_guilbeault has once again shown his utter contempt for Alberta, our economy and our energy workers.
“While advising… pic.twitter.com/hC0OmqOB2S
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) August 30, 2023
Smith’s comments came amid her ongoing battle with Guilbeault and the Trudeau government over the planned forced implementation of extreme “green” environmental electricity regulations.
Guilbeault has been roundly condemned for attending the communist meetings, by both Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, especially as China is one of the largest, if not the largest, contributor of carbon “pollution” in the world.
The Trudeau governments seems bent on forcing Canadians to abandon their natural resources, even threatening to withhold billions of taxpayer dollars in funding for provinces which continue to use natural resources such as oil, gas and coal past the year 2035.
Despite this, both Alberta and Saskatchewan have repeatedly promised to place their people above the Trudeau government’s “unconstitutional” demands.
The Trudeau government’s current environmental goals – in lockstep with the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” – include phasing out coal-fired power plants, reducing fertilizer usage, and curbing natural gas use over the coming decades.
The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil-fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.
While Trudeau’s plan has been pushed under the guise of “sustainability,” his intention to decrease nitrous oxide emissions by limiting the use of fertilizer has been criticized by farmers. They say this will reduce profits and could even lead to food shortages.
Moreover, experts are warning that the Trudeau government’s new “clean fuel” regulations, which come into effect next year, will cost Canadian workers – many of whom are already struggling under decades-high inflation rates – an average $1,277 extra annually.