Feds need to treat Alberta as a ‘fair partner’, Medicine Hat MP says

“He needs to ensure that our industry and the needs of the province are given the same credibility and the same attention as elsewhere and other provinces in Canada.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed a new, smaller cabinet that included 24 new faces with the aim of separating his government from his predecessor Justin Trudeau’s administration.

Reaction from Alberta, a province that voted overwhelmingly for the runner-up Conservative Party, was mixed.

Premier Danielle Smith, who represents some of the same constituents as Motz as MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, said she wants to build better ties after bitter fights with the last Liberal government.

“Alberta is keen to work with the federal government to reset our relationship and repair the damage to Alberta’s economy that has been caused by Ottawa’s last 10 years of anti-resource legislation and policies,” Smith said in a statement.

“During my first meeting with the prime minister just over a week ago, we spoke at length about the policies and legislation that are holding back Alberta’s economy and he made it clear that he intended to rapidly advance national building projects in the coming weeks and months.”

Key to that Ottawa-Alberta connection will be the newly-minted energy and natural resources minister Tim Hodgson.

Public policy expert Heather Exner-Pirot, based in Calgary, called Hodgon’s appointment a “great pick” that will lead to “a sigh of relief” for Alberta’s energy sector.

Bloomberg reporter Brian Platt posted to X that Hodgson — former CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada and chair of Ontario energy company Hydro One — shows how serious Carney is about national energy.

However, another portfolio often targeted by Smith’s United Conservative government is already in the crosshairs despite having a new occupant.

“I am very concerned the prime minister has appointed what appears to be yet another anti-oil and gas environment minister, Julie Dabrusin,” said Smith.

“Not only is she a self-proclaimed architect of the designation of plastics as toxic, but she is a staunch advocate against oil sands expansion, proponent of phasing out oil and gas, and for the last four years she has served as the right hand to former environment minister and militant environmentalist, Steven Guilbeault.”

The premier’s chief of staff Rob Anderson pointed out that, according to her website, Dabrusin supports putting a price on carbon pollution, her strong stance against oilsands expansion, and her push for a transition away from fossil fuels.

Anderson said on social media, in his words, “fire…meet gas.”

MP Motz also wasn’t optimistic about Dabrusin.

“I don’t know anything about this new environment minister, but it appears as if they are like or maybe even more radical than the last one,” he said.

“That never bodes well for Canada, and it never bodes well for Alberta.”

Edmonton-area MP Eleanor Olszewski will be the sole Alberta representative in Carney’s new Liberal minority cabinet.

The former occupant of the riding, Randy Boissonnault, was also a cabinet minister.

Olszewski, one of 13 first-time MPs in the cabinet, was appointed minister of emergency management and community resilience and minister responsible for prairies economic development.

The MP, who failed to get elected as an Edmonton-area Liberal in 2015 and 2019, spent much of her childhood in Medicine Hat.

Motz said equal treatment from Ottawa can also help to quell Alberta’s growing separatist movement.

“Canadians benefit from what Alberta contributes to our gross domestic product, to the economy of this country, to jobs that generate coast to coast to coast in regards to Alberta and our energy sector,” said Motz.

“So I think not just paying lip service but also paying attention to the needs of Albertans would be a good first step, and the energy sector is certainly part of it.”

— With files from The Canadian Press

by Olivia Thorington

Feds need to treat Alberta as a ‘fair partner’, Medicine Hat MP says

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