Alberta
Canada’s Premiers beginning to back Canadian energy
News release from Project Confederation
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was on a mission last week and had three things on her mind: energy, energy, energy.
The interesting thing is, many of the other provinces now seem to be on the same page too.
Energy is a policy area that has always been a flashpoint for trouble for the federal government and we’ve seen an ever-increasing number of disputes developing in recent years, deteriorating interprovincial relations and creating constitutional struggles.
The most recent argument started last Friday when Premier Smith met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Calgary to talk about – you guessed it! – energy policy.
Trudeau has announced several ambitious climate policies that will drive energy costs up.
These include aggressive net-zero emissions electricity targets that are going to make power at least 40% more expensive, cost $52 billion for infrastructure alone, and another $35 billion in economic activity.
They’ve also announced an emissions cap on the oil and gas sector in western Canada – which is effectively a production cap, limiting the ability of producers to up their production in order to meet rising global demand.
Smith isn’t going along with these destructive policies.
Natural resource development is the sole jurisdiction of the provinces, not the federal government, and Smith says that Alberta will not be a doormat for federal climate policies that are going to decimate its economy.
She made it clear she will do whatever is necessary to protect Alberta’s interests.
After this bout with Trudeau, she headed out to Winnipeg for the 2023 Summer Meeting of Canada’s Premiers.
Once again, Smith hammered on Ottawa’s aggressive targets and the impact they will have on the economies of the federation – not just Alberta.
Next, she headed to the LNG2023 Conference in Vancouver, looking to establish new export markets for Alberta’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) – a major source of tension between the federal government and the provinces.
Smith pointed out that Western Canada wants the ability to export LNG to fulfill rising global demand, a resource that Canada has in abundance:
“With the right infrastructure in place, Western Canada would become a sought-after supplier for both Asia and Europe.”
Notably, federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson didn’t even show up to the conference, instead sending Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault.
Perhaps most importantly though, Alberta no longer stands alone.
The federal government has intruded so much into provincial jurisdiction on so many issues, that more and more provinces are pushing back.
At the start of her trip, Smith predicted that she would have a few allies.
“I can tell you the thing that has surprised me the most is that it doesn’t matter what political stripe the premiers have, every single one of them is frustrated with federal interference into their business,” she said.
She was right.
The Council of Premiers made it clear that they weren’t happy being force-fed aggressive deadlines that were going to decimate the Canadian economy.
Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan, publicly called out the Prime Minister and Steven Guilbeault, federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, tweeting:
“If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. The Trudeau government doesn’t want to just reduce emissions in our energy sector, they want to completely shut down our energy sector.”
Blaine Higgs, the Premier of New Brunswick added:
“It just seems to be a pile-on of additional costs, Let’s get some recognition for the impact this is having on everyday lives.”
Even David Eby’s NDP government in British Columbia is joining in and are looking at ways to grow LNG exports with the recent establishment of a task force with a mandate to explore export expansion opportunities.
If there is one thing that this past week and a half did demonstrate is that when it comes to energy, the provinces have never been more united against a federal government that continues to overstep its jurisdictional boundaries.
This level of agreement amongst premiers is a major step forward, and it demonstrates that common ground can be found between provinces when it comes to federal overreach.
It is also important because it demonstrates that the rest of the country is getting fed up with the never-ending climate brigade taking shot after shot after shot at the energy industry without addressing the impact energy has on affordability.
Some time ago, we launched a campaign to Stand Up for Alberta Energy.
If you agree with our work in this area, and want to get more involved with the campaign, please join the campaign here:
Alberta
Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest
From LifeSiteNews
Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.
An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.
On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.
“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.
Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”
After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.
Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.
He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.
In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”
However, defence lawyer Sarah Miller pointed out that that Pawlowski’s sermon was protected under freedom of speech, an argument that Krinke quickly dismissed.
“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.
Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.
Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.
The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.
Clean Energy Fuels CEO Andrew Littlefair, Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose, and Mullen Group chairman Murray Mullen attend the opening of a new Clean Energy/Tourmaline compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
From the Canadian Energy Centre
New compressed natural gas fueling stations in Grande Prairie and Calgary join new stop in Edmonton
Heavy-duty truckers hauling everything from restaurant supplies to specialized oilfield services along one of Western Canada’s busiest corridors now have more access to a fuel that can help reduce emissions and save costs.
Two new fuelling stations serving compressed natural gas (CNG) rather than diesel in Grande Prairie and Calgary, along with a stop that opened in Edmonton last year, create the first phase of what proponents call a “natural gas highway”.
“Compressed natural gas is viable, it’s competitive and it’s good for the environment,” said Murray Mullen, chair of Mullen Group, which operates more than 4,300 trucks and thousands of pieces of equipment supporting Western Canada’s energy industry.
Right now, the company is running 19 CNG units and plans to deploy another 15 as they become available.
“They’re running the highways right now and they’re performing exceptionally well,” Mullen said on Oct. 22 during the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the new station on the northern edge of Calgary along Highway 2.
“Our people love them, our customers love them and I think it’s going to be the way for the future to be honest,” he said.
Heavy-duty trucks at Tourmaline and Clean Energy’s new Calgary compressed natural gas fuelling station. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
According to Natural Resources Canada, natural gas burns more cleanly than gasoline or diesel fuel, producing fewer toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
The two new CNG stops are part of a $70 million partnership announced last year between major Canadian natural gas producer Tourmaline and California-based Clean Energy Fuels.
Their deal would see up to 20 new CNG stations built in Western Canada over the next five years, daily filling up to 3,000 natural gas-fueled trucks.
One of North America’s biggest trucking suppliers to businesses including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway and Popeye’s says the new stations will help as it expands its fleet of CNG-powered vehicles across Canada.
Amy Senter, global vice-president of sustainability with Illinois-based Martin Brower, said in a statement that using more CNG is critical to the company achieving its emissions reduction targets.
For Tourmaline, delivering CNG to heavy-duty truckers builds on its multi-year program to displace diesel in its operations, primarily by switching drilling equipment to run on natural gas.
Between 2018 and 2022, the company displaced the equivalent of 36 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of diesel that didn’t get used, or the equivalent emissions of about 58,000 passenger vehicles.
Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose speaks to reporters during the opening of a new Tourmaline/Clean Energy compressed natural gas fuelling station in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo courtesy Tourmaline
Tourmaline CEO Mike Rose noted that the trucking sector switching fuel from diesel to natural gas is gaining momentum, notably in Asia.
A “small but growing” share of China’s trucking fleet moving to natural gas helped drive an 11 percent reduction in overall diesel consumption this June compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“China’s talking about 30 percent of the trucks sold going forward are to be CNG trucks, and it’s all about reducing emissions,” Rose said.
“It’s one global atmosphere. We’re going to reduce them here; they’re going to reduce them there and everybody’s a net winner.”
Switching from diesel to CNG is “extremely cost competitive” for trucking fleets, said Clean Energy CEO Andrew Littlefair.
“It will really move the big rigs that we need in Western Canada for the long distance and heavy loads,” he said.
Tourmaline and Clean Energy aim to have seven CNG fuelling stations operating by the end of 2025. Construction is set to begin in Kamloops, B.C., followed by Fort McMurray and Fort St. John.
“You’ll have that Western Canadian corridor, and then we’ll grow it from there,” Littlefair said.
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