After having contributed so much to a climate of frustration and alienation in Alberta, it is about time that Steven Guilbeault made a meaningful contribution to national unity and the federal cause. It is telling, however, that such a contribution would have to come in the form of his decision to depart federal politics. Regardless, it is a welcome development.
First and foremost, as was the case with his resignation as environment minister last November, Guilbeault's exit bolsters the legitimacy of the memorandum of understanding between Alberta and Ottawa and the subsequent progress toward a new pipeline to the west coast. Despite widespread support for the agreement and the project itself, there remains a fair amount of skepticism as to whether this pipeline will ever happen and even whether the overall course correction on energy and environmental policy under Prime Minister Mark Carney is genuine. Guilbeault's pending farewell is a political gift to both the prime minister and Alberta's premier.
One could bestow some credit upon Guilbeault for opting for a mostly quiet transition out of politics. While he has voiced his displeasure over the MOU, he could have been much more disruptive in his attempts to scuttle it, whether as a rabble-rouser within the Liberal caucus or as a floor-crosser to the NDP or Green Party. Still, though, it seems the former environment minister and Greenpeace activist cannot help himself when it comes to blaming others for his own failed legacy. Ultimately, the story of Steven Guilbeault's political career — much like that of the former prime minister who recruited him in the first place — will be punctuated by a severe lack of self-awareness and accountability.
Why, for example, does Guilbeault believe that the new Liberal leader was so willing to abandon the consumer carbon tax, the oil and gas emissions cap, and the Clean Electricity Regulations? It is both easy and self-serving to suggest that Mark Carney or Danielle Smith or Pierre Poilievre is undermining climate policy in Canada, when perhaps one of the main culprits is the man staring back at Steven Guilbeault in the mirror. It was no accident that, a year and a half ago, the Liberals found themselves as one of the most unpopular governments this country has ever seen. The chief policy architects of that government would do well to engage in some self-reflection.
Their rigid and dogmatic approach ultimately did more to discredit their own cause than any of their political opponents or successors. If we are keeping score on who hurt climate policy and who is saving it, it is a much different scorecard than the one inside Guilbeault's head. The Guilbeault-Trudeau legacy would have been thoroughly dismantled had the Conservatives won the last federal election — which they surely would have done had Trudeau insisted on sticking around.
