Environment and Parks Minister, Jason Nixon make his debut on the Trending 55 Hot Seat to cover a wide variety of topics.
- On the federal government increasing the carbon tax to $170/megaton in 2030. “This is going to cost people their jobs; probably 100,000 jobs over the next decade, which is extremely troubling for us. It’s why we are fighting it at the Supreme Court (of Canada).”
- On why he feels the tax punishes residents in the Peace and Mackenzie regions, as well as all of rural Alberta. “For Justin Trudeau to think we are just going to be able to stop driving our cars or heating our homes is utterly ridiculous.”
- On environmental performance. “We have seen our emissions drastically reduced as we produce oil and gas. Even beyond emissions, Alberta has a great environmental record when it comes to things like water management, species management, as well as managing our parks and recreation.”
- On flood mitigation in Fort Vermilion, and others areas around the Peace River. “One of the things we did as a result of that trip was to speed up the flood mapping for the area to be able to provide it to the municipalities. We are going to utilize that to find where we need to be able to put in infrastructure and partner with local communities to be able to protect them severe weather events like ice jams.”
- On if Alberta parks are for sale. “They are not for sale. They belong to Albertans for now and future generations and we are going to make sure they are protected that way.”
Nixon also shared his love and appreciation for wildlife with us and says when it comes to the caribou population, a majority of them roam in the Peace and Mackenzie regions.
Our full conversation with Nixon is below.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
