Alberta finance minister accuses federal Conservatives of being “hypocrites”
The Alberta government has expressed frustration at Ottawa as it steps up efforts to introduce environmental regulations for the oilsands , and has called the Harper Conservatives “hypocrites.” A 2009 diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks a few weeks ago revealed that former environment minister Jim Prentice vowed that the federal government would intervene and regulate the oilsands if the industry and the province failed to address the issue, however U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson believed Ottawa was being “too slow.” Provincial finance minister Lloyd Snelgrove criticized Ottawa for regulating a provincial resource, which would add “multiple layers of government trying to the same thing, [where] nobody wins.” Environment Minister Peter Kent told The Calgary Herald that while the federal government respects the province’s input on oilsands regulation, it has an obligation to take action on environmental regulation of bitumen development. “We value all of the provinces and territories as partners,” said Kent, “but we took to heart a year ago the very strong scientific findings that water monitoring in the Athabasca basin was inadequate.”