Disappointed by Mark Carney, Steven Guilbeault storms out

Liberal MP and former environment minister Steven Guilbault has announced that he will resign from his position, thereby ending his political career. Elected in 2019 to serve in Justin Trudeau's government, Mr. Guilbault has a long history as an environmental activist, notably with Greenpeace and Équiterre, which he co-founded. He entered politics with significant environmental ambitions that did not materialize. He is expected to leave his seat by August. Disappointed by Mark Carney

Disappointed by Mark Carney

Since the election of Mark Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada appears to have pushed the environment far down its list of priorities. These numerous setbacks prompted Steven Guilbeault to resign, as he could no longer endorse the decisions of his own party, which has notably approved several oil projects in recent months.

He stated in an interview on Radio-Canada that he had had “little or no impact on the decisions that were made, and that we are now witnessing a very, very, very significant setback,” before adding that he “is not proud” of all the decisions made by his party.

On social media, Steven Guilbeault stated that his resignation was “the result of careful consideration.” He explained that after nearly seven years in politics, he had come “to the conclusion that it is time to pursue the fight for environmental protection and the battle against climate change in a different way.”

A predictable decision

Premier Mark Carney did not seem particularly surprised by the announcement, as he had reportedly been informed of it several months ago by his MP.

“I've known for a few months that this was a possibility. It's his decision; it's normal; that's life,” the premier said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

That's life.

This resignation comes a few weeks after Steven Guilbeault sent Mark Carney a letter signed by 14 Liberal MPs urging the premier to back down on oil projects in Alberta.