“Activist”, “against everything”, “ideologically opposed to a large part of our economy”: the new Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, perfectly embodies the radicalization of the federal government by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the eyes of the leader curator, Erin O’Toole.
On Tuesday, the Conservative Party of Canada was quick to attach the label of “inexperienced and ideologically motivated” to those retained by Justin Trudeau to accomplish the various missions of the state, while worrying about “A very real risk to our economic prosperity and national unity”. Twenty-four hours later, Erin O’Toole targeted only one cabinet member: Steven Guilbeault.
“I have a lot of concerns about Minister Guilbeault. […] He has a track record as an activist! Not a minister, not a worker, not a businessman on the issues for our economy. An activist without a unifying approach in our country, ”said Mr. O’Toole, after a meeting of more than four hours with his parliamentary group on Wednesday.
According to him, the Prime Minister will sooner or later have to “realize” that it was inappropriate to entrust the orders of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to the co-founder of Équiterre – an organization promoting “the transitions towards an ecological and just society. – given the “economic crisis” and the “crisis of confidence” shaking the west of the country. In short, continues Mr. O’Toole, the record of the elected Montrealer was to “oppose all” economic development, starting with the energy sector, for “ideological” reasons.
The Western Conservatives also greeted Mr. Guilbeault with a brick and a lantern. After Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called his appointment a “disaster for the Canadian economy,” the English-language daily National Post headlined “The Radical Rise of Steven Guilbeault,” with a photo of his arrest in July 2001, where he appeared handcuffed and dressed in an orange Greenpeace jumpsuit after climbing the CN Tower in Toronto.
No “secret agenda”
Steven Guilbeault on Wednesday defended himself from being “a radical” with a “secret agenda” at the head of the Ministry of the Environment. He will work to deploy the “ambitious plan” presented to the Canadian population during the last election campaign, he explained, a few days before the kickoff of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change. (COP26) in Glasgow, UK.
The professional life of the new head of the fight against climate change is not limited to his time at Greenpeace and Équiterre. Mr. Guilbeault also held the position of strategic advisor at Cycle Capital Management, a Canadian fund dedicated to “clean technology development”, also in Alberta – which earned him the title of “green galore” from the company. UQAM professor Léo-Paul Lauzon – in addition to being part of the ranks of Deloitte & Touche and Copticom.
“Some people think I am a radical, whereas throughout my environmental career, I have worked with people in the private sector, I have worked with several provincial premiers. […] So I’m ready to sit down and work with anyone in the country who wants […] work with us to fight climate change, ”said Mr. Guilbeault.
He is not ready to give up on the construction project of a natural gas liquefaction complex Énergie Saguenay – yet condemned by Quebec – by interrupting without warning the federal assessment in progress. “We have to consider that the project is still under study until said promising person withdraws it. So Énergie Saguenay has not withdrawn its project, so the federal evaluation will continue, ”the Liberal minister indicated on Wednesday.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, for his part “greeted with particular enthusiasm” the arrival of Steven Guilbeault, a politician whom he “does not doubt the sincerity of his environmental commitment”, at the head from the Ministry of the Environment of a G7 country. “He’s kind of fulfilling the dream of his life,” he noted, while handing her an olive branch.
“It will take that Steven has free rein to do his job”, or accelerate “the transition [énergétique] which Canada, Quebec and the entire planet need badly, ”warned the Bloc leader.