Steven Guilbeault’s Divisive Agenda Is Harming Our Economy & Our National Unity.
The Liberal government wants you to believe they are addressing the cost of living.
The facts say otherwise.
A key component of the cost of living is of course the cost of energy. Any prosperous civilization must be built upon a foundation of affordable energy. If fusion power becomes widely viable one day, our potential standard of living will be nearly utopian.
But we aren’t there yet.
In the world as it exists today, oil & gas continue to play a key role in providing affordable energy, and that role will continue for a long time.
Pragmatic, common-sense leaders recognize this.
Ideological, extreme leaders do not.
And Steven Guilbeault is certainly in the latter category.
Too ideological for a regionally-diverse country
If Steven Guilbeault was a provincial minister, or politician in a geographically-small and dense country, his extreme ideological leanings wouldn’t be a big problem.
Unfortunately, Canada is a country of immense regional diversity.
Things are very different in Alberta than in Quebec. The distance from B.C. to Newfoundland & Labrador is 4,441 KM. The needs of key industries in various regions are dramatically different. Economic integration is often more powerful ‘north-south’ (between Canadian provinces and American states, than east-west between Canadian provinces themselves.
All of this to say that a one-size-fits-all ideological approach can’t work in Canada. Steven Guilbeault’s perspective may be popular in his downtown Montreal riding, and the voters there certainly have the right to see their viewpoints represented in Parliament. But to impose that view across the nation is a serious error.
Remember, Canada was more unified and more economically successful under the Harper government, because the Conservatives respected regional diversity. The Conservatives supported the oil & gas sector in Alberta, but also supported the forestry sector in B.C., the auto sector in Ontario, and the Aerospace sector in Quebec. Thus, no region felt explicitly left out, and no region of the country felt the federal government was being unfairly weaponized against them.
As a result, even when Harper was personally unpopular in regions like Quebec, support for Quebec separatism dropped, and the separatist began to collapse.
Dangerous division
Unfortunately, Steven Guilbeault lacks the willingness or ability to be pragmatic. By extension, Justin Trudeau also shows himself to be devoid of pragmatism, since he is the one who has empowered Guibeault and continues to keep Guilbeault in the environment minister role.
Unsurprisingly, Trudeau & Guibeault’s ‘net zero’ plan is already being denounced for being both unrealistic, and for imposing increased costs on already-strained Canadian households.
While the government has been trying to spin their efforts as ‘cost-saving,’ internally they are aware that it’s just the opposite:
DOCUMENTS: @S_Guilbeault memo warns ratepayers will see steeper hydro bills under "green" program: "Expansion of clean electric supply to 2050 will increase costs."
— @environmentca https://t.co/wB6h0gRFLE @Electricity_Ca @WarrenSteinley #cdnpoli #electricity pic.twitter.com/9WXQV7OfhI— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) August 4, 2023
By pushing Canadians to use less reliable energy, Guilbeault & Trudeau will raise costs, rather than lower them:
“Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and special adviser to the Business Council of Canada, said the federal Liberals are choosing to go “much faster and further than what anyone else thinks is logistically or economically possible.”
“They’re arguing that switching to clean electricity will save Canadians money. That’s not being realistic,” she argued. “Natural gas in Canada is cheap and reliable. Heat pumps and EVs do not work well in large parts of the county in winter, and that’s a fact.”
Both Alberta and Saskatchewan – provinces unfairly targeted by the Liberal government – are making it clear they will push back:
The federal government’s new regulations on electricity will increase your utility bills and basically every other good and service.
The proposed mandate is unconstitutional. We will not let Albertans suffer by implementing this policy.#cdnpoli #abpoli pic.twitter.com/B6vohLBDDL
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) August 10, 2023
Trudeau’s net-zero electricity regulations are unaffordable, unrealistic and unconstitutional.
They will drive electricity rates through the roof and leave Saskatchewan with an unreliable power supply.
Our government will not let the federal government do that to Saskatchewan… pic.twitter.com/dsiMcy82JI
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) August 10, 2023
The fact that Alberta & Saskatchewan are being put in this position is itself an indictment of Trudeau & Guilbeault’s ‘leadership.’
Rather than seek to unite Canadians, Guilbeault and Trudeau are using every opportunity to impose their ideology no matter how much damage it does to the fabric of the nation.
And all the while, Canadians are falling behind economically and there is almost no change in Canada’s already-miniscule contribution to global emissions.
For the good of the country, Canadians must reject the extreme ideological approach of Steven Guilbeault. Someone as divisive and zealous as Guilbeault simply shouldn’t be put in such a position of power over our country.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – Twitter
