Learn English with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. Justin Trudeau delivers a statement on the Alberta government's push for a carbon neutral electricity grid, and the opposition from his counterpart, Premier Rachel Notley, on the oil and gas cap.
00:00:00.000First, I'd like to say that we have been working in good faith with the government of Alberta for many months now as part of a working group to explore both the clean electricity regulation as well as the oil and gas cap.
00:00:12.520And not once in the many meetings that we've had with them that they raised the Sovereignty Act motion, which jeopardized the collaboration that we've had so far.
00:00:22.400But like the province of Alberta, we agree that we need to develop a clean grid that is affordable and reliable.
00:00:30.800Of course, we agree on that because it's the foundation of a prosperous and clean future for all Canadians.
00:00:38.680The draft regulations that I introduced this summer provide a lot of flexibility for many jurisdictions across the country who still use fossil fuels and more specifically natural gas to continue doing so after 2035.
00:00:51.280There is no cliff, as Premier Smith has said many times for those jurisdictions using natural gas.
00:00:58.640But it is true that we want to limit as much as possible the use of fossil fuels as part of our grid in 2035.
00:01:05.140But it's not a fossil fuel-free grid in 2035. It's a carbon-neutral grid.
00:01:09.760We want to minimize the use of fossil fuels and maximize the use of renewable energies.
00:01:15.180The government of Canada is making historic investment to support this transition with provinces and territories.
00:01:22.420Another $40 billion in the last fall economic, in the last budget was announced for the support, the development of clean electricity across the country.
00:01:32.280And recently in Alberta, 50 projects worth more than $600 million have been invested to help Albertans and the government of Alberta achieve this.
00:01:43.960This seems to be part of a new tradition of the Alberta government to ideologically position their government on issues of clean electricity, renewable energy.
00:02:00.220They have put a moratorium, Premier Smith has put a moratorium on place, which is jeopardizing $30 billion worth of investment in the province, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
00:02:12.200And contrary to many of the claims that, well, all of the claims that the Premier is making on this, we have in fact signed agreements with provinces like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick who are still very dependent on fossil fuel to produce their electricity and who've agreed to work with us to have a carbon-neutral grid by 2035.
00:02:31.400So it is possible to do so in Canada. It is possible to do so in jurisdictions that are still very dependent on fossil fuel.
00:02:39.080But it means that we have to work together, not against each other.
00:02:43.140And that's what I find unacceptable with the position that Premier Smith is taking because it's bad for Albertans, it's bad for workers in Albertans, it's bad for the economy of Alberta.
00:02:53.880And obviously we know that as far as Pierre Poliev is concerned, nothing would happen on this because he doesn't even, the official position of his party is that they don't believe in climate change, let alone measures that we should put in place to fight climate change.
00:03:08.340So we will continue moving ahead with this. There is no legal basis for what Alberta is doing, and we feel that we're on very solid ground in the fact that we already have some provinces who are on board with us, as well as a number of private companies and investors who say that this is the way to the future.