Environment Minister Stephen Gilboe has gone to China, where he is meeting with an organ of the Communist Party, which has some environmental policy role, and advising them. He was warned by the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, the Global Times, against being condescending. They told him not to be condescending about China's own carbon neutrality plans, which are set for 2060, a bit later than Canada's of 2030 or 2035.
00:00:00.000Federal Environment Minister Stephen Gilboe, gone to China, where he is meeting with an organ of the Communist Party, which I guess has some environmental policy role, and advising them.
00:00:17.000He, actually, in fact, he was warned by the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, the Global Times, they warned him against being condescending, quote unquote, assuming that translates to Chinese.
00:00:35.600I hope they got that right. Condescending, they told him not to be condescending discussions to accelerate China's own carbon neutrality plans, which are set for 2060, a bit later than Stephen Gilboe's of 2030 or 2035, whatever that is, which is far below the Paris Accord, and what Gilboe was imposing on Alberta.
00:01:01.880So we haven't heard him say anything about China's 2060 carbon neutrality plan, but he certainly has words for Alberta saying, no, we're not doing 2035.
00:01:15.800But then he went after Suncor. So Suncor, obviously big oil sands giant, they're selling their wind farms and solar stuff to concentrate on what makes the money, you know,
00:01:30.400things that aren't just subsidy machines, but mainly oil sands. And so this is what Stephen Gilboe had to say about Suncor, to see the leader of a great Canadian company say that he basically disengaged from climate change and sustainability,
00:01:45.280that he's going to focus on short term profits, it's all the wrong answers. If I was convinced before that we what we needed to do was regulate, I'm even more convinced now. So he has convinced himself even more that he is right,
00:02:00.280that is sign of a good liberal. So he is confounded that a for profit company is prioritizing making a profit something that Mr. Gilboe and the overwhelming majority of liberal cabinet ministers have never actually had to do at any point in their lives.
00:02:20.280He's confounded that they would actually try to make a profit and focus on the profitable parts of their business.
00:02:27.280But yeah, he did that where he's out in China with the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, where he is the co chair.
00:02:37.280And just for clarity, that is an actual organ of the Chinese government and Communist Party. This is not an international organization or China is just there. This is a Chinese Communist.
00:02:51.280I don't think anything of any of this is really surprising. The Liberals have a really creepy soft spot for the Chinese Communist Party.
00:03:00.280So soft that the Chinese Communist Party is seen it as advantageous to aid them in interfering in elections.
00:03:07.280But I don't know, is there anything unusual about Gilboe doing this overseas while in China meeting with the Chinese Communist Party, the biggest polluter on the planet, whose carbon neutrality goals are 2060 and he has apparently not said anything about
00:03:26.280Is the circumstance of this? Is the circumstance of this a little out for Gilboe?
00:03:31.280Of course it is. I mean, you pretty much said it all, Derek. It's an outrageous situation.
00:03:36.280It's outrageous that the man occupies a post in another government.
00:03:42.280It's one thing to be a member of an international organization.
00:03:46.280It's another to actually be part of that government, another government.
00:03:52.280It happens to be China. It wouldn't be any better if it was Monaco.
00:03:55.280You know, you just don't, it means split.
00:03:59.280Loyalty is always the perception of shredded interests.
00:04:04.280So that's the first thing. But, you know, Mr. Gilboe, frankly, is almost becoming a caricature of himself.
00:04:13.280His, everything that he does is just slightly crazy.
00:05:38.280Are Canadians going to see this in anything other than just Gilboe cares about environment?
00:05:45.280Is that going to be kind of the main headline coming out of this?
00:05:48.280Or is the fact that he's attacking a Canadian company for having the audacity to focus on profit,
00:05:54.280which they have a fiduciary duty to do.
00:05:58.280Do you think this is going to be anything beyond just the regular headlines of Gilboe hits it company?
00:06:07.280Does it add to it substantively from average Canadians to think that he's doing this while operating as an arm of the Chinese Communist Party as a part of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development?
00:06:20.280I think just the fact that he was sitting on that panel alone, I mean, that already made headlines when it was found that he was going to it.
00:06:26.280And that kind of hit across the country.
00:06:28.280As far as his fight with Suncor, I think that's just going to be more regional.