Integrity Score 2097
No Records Found
No Records Found
No Records Found
Canada’s Prime Minister Justine Trudeau has revamped his government after the elections, naming as his environment and climate change minister Steven Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace activist who has been called the ‘Green Jesus of Montreal’ by press. His appointment – a few days ahead of the COP26 meet – has angered the oil and gas industry but enthused activists.
Guilbeault, an MP from Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Quebec: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/steven-guilbeault(14171) , previously served as minister of Canadian heritage. He has worked with several environmental advocacy groups, and is a prominent advocate in the fight against the climate crisis. His commitment to environmental issues started at the age of five, when he climbed a tree to protect it from real-estate developers who were about to cut down the woods behind his home in La Tuque: https://pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet/honourable-steven-guilbeault
He co-founded Équiterre, the largest environmental organization in Quebec, in 1993. At Greenpeace he worked as a director and campaign manager. He was a strategic advisor for more than 10 years at Cycle Capital Management, a fund dedicated to the development of clean technologies. He also worked for consulting firms specializing in green economy.
In 2001, he along with a fellow Greenpeace activist scaled the CN Tower in Toronto to call for Canada to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. When they reached the observation deck 340 meters up, they hung a banner reading “Canada and Bush Climate Killers”: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/greenpeace-activists-scale-cn-tower-1.262071 The innovative protest was in tune with the Greenpeace strategies, but it also earned him the epithet of a prankster in the media: https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-greenpeace-prankster-becomes-the-federal-environment-minister
While he claims to be a “pragmatist who works to make a difference by building bridges and relationships,” a section of media has criticized Trudeau for not being a pragmatist but absolutist in choosing an activist for this role. Will the new minister be able to negotiate with the fossil fuel industry of Canada with a give-and-take attitude?
On the other hand, many have welcomed Trudeau’s move as a signal that the government really wants to get down to business when it comes to climate action: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/27/steven-guilbeault-environment-minister-canada/ Trudeau has also shifted the previous natural resources minister who was favored by the energy industry to another portfolio.