(Ottawa) “Irresponsible and dangerous.” It is with these words that Minister Steven Guilbeault reacted Thursday to the comments of the Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith. The day before, she had asked right-wing American host Tucker Carlson to put the Minister of the Environment “in her crosshairs” because she wants to have him fired.
“It wasn’t just anyone who invited him, it was Danielle Smith who invited him, who said to him can you put a target on the back of Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of the Environment because I don’t agree with him,” he said indignantly after a meeting of the Quebec Liberal caucus.
This is excessively irresponsible and dangerous for the entire Canadian political class, whether at the municipal, provincial or federal level.
Steven Guilbeault on the comments of the Alberta Prime Minister
The RCMP will have to assess whether increased security will be required. The minister recalled that “the TV host dismissed because he lied on the airwaves” had “stoked the embers in the United States which led to the invasion of the Capitol on January 6.”
Shortly after, Mr. Guilbeault was alongside Ministers Pascale St-Onge, Pablo Rodriguez and Randy Boissonault to once again denounce the comments of Danielle Smith and those of Tucker Carlson and invite Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to condemn these comments.
The former Fox News host was in Calgary the day before as part of his tour Make America Great Again to “liberate Canada”. He has already stated on several occasions that Canada under the government of Justin Trudeau had become a dictatorship. More than 4,000 people had purchased tickets to hear him, according to the Calgary Herald.
Prime Minister Danielle Smith granted her an interview of approximately 16 minutes during which she mainly addressed the issue of energy policy. She then encouraged the host to direct his anger towards Minister Guilbeault. Mme Smith strongly opposes the carbon tax and other measures put forward by Ottawa to combat climate change because of their negative effect on the oil industry in his province.
“I would like you to put Steven Guilbeault in your sights,” she said to the host who has more than 11 million subscribers on Calgary Herald.
“I’m trying to get him fired and I would really like your help,” she added, according to the court’s report. Politico. The media outlet focused on political coverage also noted that Mr. Carlson claimed that he had seen Montreal being “cleansed of its Anglo-Saxon heritage” and that his anti-LGBTQ+ jokes drew applause.
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Minister Steven Guilbeault
“It is absolutely deplorable to have Canadian conservative politicians inviting the American extreme right here to Canada,” said the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge. She deplored the remarks towards French speakers in Quebec. “We will not let this happen,” she exclaimed.
The Minister of Official Languages, Randy Boissonneault also denounced Tucker Carlson’s hateful comments towards the LGBTQ+ community.
“There is a continuity that we see here from the words of Pierre Poilievre last week when he came to insult Quebec elected officials,” added the Minister of Transport, Pablo Rodriguez. We no longer wonder if American far-right politics will come to us. She is with us. »
We hear here from Quebec bashing and I ask Pierre Poilievre to condemn these comments. Will he have the courage to condemn these comments?
Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport
The Conservative leader had not reacted at the time of publication. Danielle Smith, for her part, denied inciting violence.
“Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault continues to promote extreme policies that are dangerous and detrimental to the health, safety and economy of Albertans,” responded the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Sam Blackett, while calling for the dismissal of Mr. Guilbeault.
“It is incredibly hypocritical for Minister Guilbeault to falsely imply that the Prime Minister incited violence against him given his past irresponsible and dangerous actions, including scaling the Alberta Premier’s house, Ralph Klein, who had terrified his family,” he added.
Greenpeace activists dressed in orange jumpsuits climbed onto the roof of his residence in 2002 to install a solar panel.