BURST
OTTAWA — Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault will resign as a Liberal MP. He will make the announcement to his colleagues Wednesday morning in caucus and will give a speech at the House of Commons later in the afternoon to explain his reasons.
A source close to Guilbeault confirmed the information to the National Post after news of his impending resignation was reported by different media outlets.
The source confirmed Guilbeault is leaving politics because of the recent deal Prime Minister Mark Carney struck with Alberta to advance a new oil pipeline to the West Coast, but also because of the government’s environmental policy setbacks in general.
“I think it came to a point where he could not endorse what they were doing anymore,” added the source who was not authorized to publicly speak on the matter.
Guilbeault is expected to stay on as MP until the end of the spring session to not affect the government’s slim majority government, added the source.
Others are not expected to follow his example. Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said on Tuesday he was not particularly worried about the government losing its majority due to resignations because of the government’s environmental policies.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said she is a “good friend” of Guilbeault and considers herself to be an environmentalist but still defended the government’s work with Alberta.
“I also think that we need to be able to have one of the most important provinces that is the major energy producer of Canada as part of our plan. And therefore, you can have the best possible plan (but) you need to make it work, you need to be pragmatic,” she said.
Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin said she worked as Guilbeault’s parliamentary secretary for six years and said he is “a very valued member of our team.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has regularly lambasted Guilbeault publicly, said after a gathering of Western premiers in Alberta, “I wish him well in his future endeavours.”
More details to follow…
National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com
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