(Ottawa) Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith praised Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and blasted Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Monday. She is visiting Ottawa to open an Alberta office in the federal capital. She also had to defend her new policy on gender identity.
“Some ministers understand it,” she replied when The Press asked him what, in his opinion, the federal government did not understand about its policy for developing Alberta’s natural resources.
“My main communications are with Minister François-Philippe Champagne who is a defender of the industry across the country,” she added.
She said Champagne has been very helpful in helping Alberta with the development of hydrogen, cement and its net-carbon petrochemical industry.
I have a very good relationship with these ministers who really applaud the industry across the country. Unfortunately, Steven Guilbeault is not one of them.
Danielle Smith
“I hoped to be able to have a constructive relationship with him and he demonstrated that he is an ideologue,” she continued. He doesn’t listen, he doesn’t honor the Constitution, he ignores court rulings and he continues to charge forward even though his actions are illegal. »
She said she hoped for a change of Minister of the Environment to start from scratch. Danielle Smith recently attracted criticism for having suggested to the right-wing American host Tucker Carlson, who has more than 11 million subscribers on X, to put Mr. Guilbeault “in his crosshairs”.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Danielle Smith was in the federal capital on Monday.
The prime minister also defended her new gender identity policy which would ban gender-affirming surgeries for under-18s and hormone treatments for under-16s. Parental consent will be required for any change of pronoun or name for those under 16. The Alberta premier also plans to create gender-neutral sports leagues to prevent women from having to compete against transgender athletes.
She plans to table a bill next fall and has not ruled out using the derogation clause to protect her new policy from possible legal challenges.
Alberta’s new office in Ottawa is located a few hundred meters from Parliament Hill. The Prime Minister hopes to be able to work with her allies in the federal capital. The province had such an office, but it was closed in 2015.
The Legault government also has its Quebec office in Ottawa to try to influence federal policies.