Cabinet minister and climate advocate Steven Guilbeault resigned from his position after Canadian Premier Mark Carney signed a memorandum of understanding with the oil-producing province of Alberta in November. In an interview on Bloomberg’s podcast Zero: The Climate Race, he explains why the deal, which promises federal support for a new pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, was the last straw.

The MOU essentially offers to undo a host of climate regulations that have been put in place over the last decade. It opens the door to lifting a tanker ban and exempts Alberta from clean power regulations in exchange for potential stricter industrial carbon pricing. It also extends tax credits for using carbon capture to extract more oil.

Mr Guilbeault served as Environment Minister from 2021 to 2025 under Justin Trudeau and played a key role in creating many of the policies now being called into question.

Listen here.

See also Mark Carney’s fossil fuel pivot bewilders climate experts and business leaders – Financial Times 13 December.