Alberta Premier Danielle Smith vowed to fight Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s environmental initiatives with “every power that we have,” including by having the oil-rich province defy federal legislation.A federal goal of zeroing out the emissions from the nation’s power grids by 2035 and a plan to slash emissions from oil and gas companies by 42% this decade are unachievable for Alberta, Smith said Tuesday at an energy conference in Calgary. If necessary, the province will use the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act that was passed last year as grounds to disregard federal laws, Smith said. The act’s constitutionality has been widely disputed, and its use may provoke a court case.
“The constitution is very clear that we have the authority to develop our electricity grid, we have the authority to develop our resources,” Smith told reporters. “That’s what the Sovereignty Act is all about, making sure that we defend our areas of jurisdiction.”
Smith’s United Conservative Party won 49 of 87 seats in the provincial legislature in elections two weeks ago to form a majority government, defeating the left-leaning New Democratic Party. Smith is a vocal critic of Trudeau, and promises to push back against federal intervention in Alberta were a central theme of her campaign.
