With Guilbeault gone, McKenna says Liberals ‘who actually talk about the climate crisis’ need to speak up

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Environmentalists are not sold. Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist at Greenpeace Canada, an organization Guilbeault once worked before entering politics, says he believes his departure ought to serve as a wake-up call for the Liberal party, accusing Carney of prioritizing oil and gas companies “over what’s good for regular Canadians.”

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“The Liberal party, should have a rethink of the direction they’re heading in when they can’t keep Steven Guilbeault,” he said upon learning of his impending resignation.

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Will Greaves, Liberal MP for Victoria, said there were many across caucus and the party who “believe deeply in climate change” and seeing that reflected in government policy.

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As for the balance Carney was trying to strike, he called it “an exceptionally difficult” one.

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Catherine McKenna, who like Guilbeault, had served as an environment minister under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, entered the House of Commons on Wednesday to offer her support to her former colleague.

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She said she knows the difficulty of the job, particularly in light of facing off against “oil and gas companies” as well as the supportive politicians and lobbyists.

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McKenna, who left politics in 2021, called the climate “the most important issue we face.”

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“He’s worked really hard,” she said of Guilbeault. “It’s his day, and I think it’s really important that we have people in the Liberal party who actually talk about the climate crisis and how we’re actually going to reduce our emissions because that’s the test.”

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Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, who has known Guilbeault, a prominent environmentalist since the early 2000s, said he was “not entirely surprised” to see him announce his resignation.

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“I must say we knew for a long time that Steven was not very comfortable” with the government’s positions on the environment, the Bloc leader added.

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Blanchet said Guilbeault’s resignation will send a clear signal across the world that Canada is going backwards on the environment.

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“He is the very and absolutely clear example that will be understood in Quebec, in Canada and abroad that the government of Canada has dropped the ball concerning climate and environment for the benefit of the oil and gas industry and that there will be a price to be paid,” he said.

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NDP Leader Avi Lewis said Guilbeault’s departure is a clear example that the Carney government will suffer consequences from not making climate issues a priority.

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Lewis said he did not try to recruit Guilbeault because his party has a policy against floor-crossing but that he is welcome to run under the NDP banner in a byelection.

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Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers on Wednesday downplayed the significance of the party’s most recognized environmentalist exiting politics as a sign that the climate was any less of a priority under Carney, although several underscored the importance of the government striking a pragmatic approach.

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“I think our prime minister’s showing you can do development, you can do major projects and you can care for the environment,” Toronto Liberal Rob Oliphant.

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He said though Guilbeault and Carney “may have a difference of opinion,” he believes that in the long term Canadians will see Carney’s commitment to the environment.

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National Post

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