LAKELAND - Brian Jean, the MLA for Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche and the provincial minister of Energy and Minerals, says the federal government continues to advance policies and emissions targets that are unrealistic, unfair, and in some cases, unconstitutional.
“The resulting impact on our economy is startling,” Jean told Lakeland This Week when asked about his political forecasts for the new year.
Jean continued by stating that Ottawa must recognize that whether it is their goal of achieving net zero on the electricity grid by 2035, or what he calls the federal government’s ‘bizarre’ attempt to classify plastics as toxic, it will result in job losses and cripple the Canadian economy.
Jean said while the federal government insists that affordability remains a top priority, it has failed to heed provincial calls to remove the carbon tax.
“If the Feds were serious about keeping life affordable for Canadians, they would not penalize us according to where we live and which members of Parliament we elect,” he stated.
Instead of listening to the courts and to Canadians, Jean says, this federal government has chosen to overreach their jurisdiction. He added that the Government of Alberta will do everything within its legal jurisdiction to thwart implementation of these unconstitutional regulations in the province.
Last year, the Alberta government tabled its first Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act motion. Jean explained that this urges the government to take strong, effective action over the coming months and years to counteract the harms and risks to Albertans posed by the unconstitutional federal Clean Electricity Regulations (CERs).
“We must be prepared should the CERs lead to divestment in natural gas generation and power plants being turned off in 2035,” he said. “This initiative is an important first step towards protecting Albertans’ continued access to reliable and affordable electricity should this occur.”
Jean said Alberta will continue to further develop and implement its Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan as the province demonstrates to the world how an energy-producing jurisdiction can simultaneously increase renewable and non-renewable energy production while achieving carbon neutrality through investments in new technologies.
“We were gravely disappointed to see federal Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault and other radical activists continue to push an approach that would consign the world to energy poverty and economic stagnation by focusing only on ending all fossil fuel use,” he said.
Future prosperity
Turning to economic development, Jean said the $10+ billion first phase of the Dow Chemical announcement in Fort Saskatchewan, which started in 2023, is indicative of investor confidence in Alberta. He said there will be much more development in energy as well as energy-related petrochemical sectors in the coming years.
“We are ramping up hydrogen, lithium and helium production,” he said. “The oil sands and natural gas sectors are thriving, and we are creating the conditions to employ the thousands of Canadians who are streaming in from other provinces. We welcome them and the prosperity they’ll help create.”
Looking to 2024, for his own constituency, Jean would like to see the major oil sands producers invest more in the region and community.
“We need more workers to live here,” he stated, explaining that the local workforce has well-trained and trainable residents who already have strong connections to the area.
Jean is also proud of the growing number of local, Indigenous entrepreneurs and supporters who are making impacts in the local economies. Going into the new year, where there will undboubtedly be more challenges ... andn more opportunities .... he is encouraged by that growth
“One thing I continue to celebrate is the growing Indigenous ownership of major energy infrastructure in Alberta and other provinces."