Alberta to invoke controversial law to resist Canada’s energy policy

TORONTO (Reuters) – The premier of Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing province, on Saturday said her government intends to move an act on Monday to shield provincial power companies from proposed federal clean electricity regulations.

Speaking at a morning radio program on Saturday, Premier Danielle Smith, who says the plans of the federal government to cut greenhouse gas emissions will wreck the energy industry, said she was driven to act by frustration with the federal government.

Alberta has long been at odds with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau‘s Liberal government over energy policy.

Last month, in a victory for Alberta, Canada’s Supreme Court dealt a blow to Trudeau’s government by ruling that federal law assessing how major projects such as coal mines and oil sands plants impact the environment is largely unconstitutional.

“We have been trying to work collaboratively with them on aligning their targets with our targets,” Smith said on Saturday said on the radio program “Your Province. Your Premier.”

“We will not put our operators at risk of going to jail if they do not achieve the targets that have been set, which we believe are unachievable,” Smith said. “We have to have a reliable grid. We have to have an affordable grid, and we’re going to make sure that we defend our constitutional jurisdiction to do that.”

The office of Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault was not immediately available for comment.

The resolution will be brought forward for debate and approval in the legislature on Monday, Smith said.

The Trudeau government’s clean electricity regulations are designed to create a net-zero emissions power grid by 2035 by putting limits on when and how emitting power sources, such as Alberta’s natural gas-burning plants, can be used starting in 2035.

The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act would give the province a legislative framework to defend its jurisdiction in areas such as natural resources, gun control, and health and education.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Leslie Adler)