She told them so. And she isn’t afraid to tell her federal counterparts..A jubilant Premier Danielle Smith could barely contain her glee with the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to rule sections of Bill C-69 — the so-called No Pipelines Act — unconstitutional on Friday, declaring it as a major win for Alberta..“I am extremely pleased for the Supreme Court of Canada's decision confirming the unconstitutionality of the federal government's destructive Impact Assessment Act,” she began..“Today's ruling represents an opportunity for all provinces to stop that bleeding, rebuild investor confidence and attract those jobs back into our economies. And today, I am pleased to say that Alberta is once again open for business.”.In an historic reference opinion, the Supreme Court struck down sections of the bill that would have asserted federal jurisdiction over a variety of industrial projects within Alberta’s borders, including oil sands, critical minerals, forestry and even highway construction..Smith said the decision reaffirms what they have known all along: that resource development is the exclusive purview of Albertans..Smith said she is now even more confident the court ruling will apply to Ottawa’s proposed electricity regulations and looming emissions cap and warned her federal counterparts to withdraw them entirely or wind up back in court..And she scoffed at suggestions from federal ministers Jonathan Wilkinson and Steven Guilbeault the existing act needs only “surgical” changes to bring it in line with the constitution..“I hope that Ottawa will learn from this mistake. Now today, Minister of Environment Climate Change Steven Guilbeault and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, tried to position this as a ‘win’. It is not,” she said..“They simply aren't listening. Guilbeault does not seem to acknowledge how badly he lost. And Wilkinson? I've heard him say that he hopes that this is the last time that we end up going to court. Well, there's one way to assure that… just drop their clean electricity regulations and they need to drop their emissions cap,” she said..“The entire reason we ended up in the Supreme Court was because the federal government acted illegally. They ignored the provinces. They ignored the Senate and they ignored the many partners who opposed this unconstitutional law all along. Enough is enough.”.In a press briefing earlier Friday morning, Guilbeault took a not-so-thinly veiled shot at Smith for creating “uncertainty” with the UCP government’s moratorium on renewable energy projects..“It is interesting, we talked about project certainty at a time where the premier of a province has put a moratorium in place on a development of $30 billion worth of clean technology and renewable energy projects and at the same time, they're saying we need to provide certainty,” he said. .“But I think in some instances, I would argue that some provincial premiers should probably look in the mirror when they talk about this.”.A clearly frustrated Smith wasn’t in the mood to be lectured..“They just don't stop doing this,” she groaned. “Minister Guilbeault has done more damage to our investment climate in this province than probably any single federal minister I've ever seen.”.Smith said when the pause was announced there were $23 billion worth of projects in the queue, which has almost doubled to $41 billion..“So that looks to me like people are still looking at Alberta and they're still excited about the opportunity. They're waiting for some clarity. They'll get that clarity from us, because it's under our constitutional responsibility. We have the exclusive right as the Supreme Court determined today to exercise under Section 92 and that includes electricity. And that's what we'll do.”.Added Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz:.“This decision sends a message to all Canadians and the rest of the world that Canada can still be a leader and get big projects done that will support jobs, investment and a strong future. Alberta will keep working to ensure we have one of the best, most effective regulatory systems in the world, responsibly managing our resources while protecting the environment and respecting the Canadian constitution.”
