Mark Carney is no ally of the oilpatch, says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as she calls for election
'He's been on a warpath against the energy industry for his entire career'
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants the new leader of the federal Liberal Party to change its approach toward the oil and gas industry and its environmental policies.
Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership on Sunday evening with an overwhelming majority of the vote of party members.
On Monday, Smith re-iterated her calls for an election to be called so a prime minister is in place with a mandate from voters across the country.
Despite Carney's background as a central banker, Smith said she doesn't think the new Liberal leader will change the federal government's approach to the oilpatch.
Smith and her cabinet colleagues regularly criticise the federal Liberals for their policies toward the sector, including the proposed oil and gas emissions cap.
"Mark Carney is responsible for net zero banking. He's been on a warpath against the energy industry for his entire career," Smith said at CERAWeek, an international energy conference in Houston.
"I don't think he's changed his tune," Smith added.
After becoming the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance in 2019, Carney advocated for the global financial sector to invest in net-zero emissions.
As part of his platform in the recent leadership campaign, Carney vowed to expand and modernize "our energy infrastructure so that we are less dependent both on foreign suppliers and the United States as our main customer."
Former Alberta energy minister Sonya Savage is keen to see if Carney puts less of a priority on environmental policies compared to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"It'll be interesting to see if Mr. Carney pivots from any of that, as we're looking at affordability and inflation and energy reliability and looking down south to the United States, who's put energy dominance at the top of the agenda," said Savage in an interview with CBC News on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference.
Born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., Carney spent his first six years there, before his family moved to Edmonton.
In 2007, he was appointed Bank of Canada governor under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
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