Ex-Environment Minister to Quit Carney’s Caucus After Climate Reversals

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(Bloomberg) — A former Canadian environment minister will resign his seat in the coming months after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government watered down its climate policy.

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Steven Guilbeault quit Carney’s cabinet last fall, ditching his post as culture minister to protest a deal between the government and the province of Alberta that opens the door for a new oil export pipeline. Now he’s planning to leave federal politics entirely, stepping down as a lawmaker “later this summer,” he said in a social media post.

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“I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to pursue my fight for environmental protection and the fight against climate change in a different way,” his post said. 

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Carney had confirmed Guilbeault’s departure during a news conference on Wednesday in Ottawa, thanking him for his nearly seven years of service.

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A former Greenpeace activist, Guilbeault was named environment minister in 2021 by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He helped shape Canada’s approach to climate change, which included a controversial carbon tax that applied to gasoline and other fuels and was set to increase over time. 

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But he has watched as Carney undid much of his legacy. The prime minister has scrapped the carbon levy on consumers, a proposed cap on oil and gas emissions and an electric-vehicle mandate, while focusing on boosting Canada’s output of oil and other resources. 

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Guilbeault, first elected in 2019, has a high profile in the province of Quebec, a crucial electoral battleground that helped Carney win government in last year’s election.

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Earlier this month, Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reached an agreement on industrial carbon pricing in the province, which was a federal condition for support of the proposed pipeline to the country’s west coast. 

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While Carney’s push to build more infrastructure and energy projects has been applauded by the business community, some members of his party are uneasy with the approach. 

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Some Indigenous communities are adamantly opposed to the government’s attempt to fast-track resource and infrastructure projects that would involve their territories, while climate groups have raised alarm bells that Canada’s emission targets are becoming further out of reach.

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Canada’s official policy is to cut emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. Asked recently whether it will meet that target, Carney said his government will “update” its climate plan, without offering further detail.

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—With assistance from Melissa Shin.

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(Updates with timing of resignation and Guilbeault statement, starting in first paragraph.)

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