Two decades later, the environmental activist has joined the government he once protested against, as Canada’s environment minister. And Équiterre, the environmental group he co-founded, is suing the government for one of its decisions.
The hecklers, meanwhile, use one of his most notorious acts of civil disobedience against him.
“You are a climate criminal!” shouted a protester at an event in Montreal in July. “That’s how history will judge you.”
Guilbeault, now 52, is being criticized for his decision in April to authorize the Bay du Nord deep-sea oil drilling project off Newfoundland and Labrador, saying it is “not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects”. He says that to his knowledge, it will be the least emitting project of this type in the world.
But activists in environmental circles once frequented by Guilbeault do not agree. They say the approval ignores scientists’ warnings, and is inconsistent with the noble rhetoric of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government on the need to take more aggressive action against climate change.
It’s certainly a striking move by a man who never owned a car and was once nicknamed “Green Jesus.”
“It was the most difficult professional decision I have ever made in my life,” Guilbeault told The Washington Post. “I sincerely hope I don’t have to do another one like this. It was heartbreaking.
This is his dilemma — and Canada’s.
For Guilbeault, meeting the Paris climate agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels is essential. Deadly heat waves, catastrophic floods and catastrophic forest fires fueled by climate change have taken their toll here.
He has read decades of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – including one published by the UN body shortly before Bay du Nord was approved warning that the window to prevent a brighter future perilous is “brief and closes quickly”.
But in the country that has the third largest proven oil reserves in the world, his job is complicated. There are complicated regional tensions to manage, particularly in the oil-rich Prairie provinces, where many believe Ottawa is threatening the sector that fuels their economies.
And as European allies strive to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas after the invasion of Ukraine, some of those countries are looking to Canada as an alternative source. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to visit the country next week to discuss the possibilities.
Yet Trudeau came to power in 2015 on a promise to put climate action at the top of his agenda. His record is mixed. Many here saw Guilbeault’s appointment to the environment portfolio in October as a signal that the government – fresh off an election victory – intended to act much faster to tackle the climate crisis. .
“Expectations were high,” said Marc-André Viau, Équiterre’s director of government relations. “That’s why when the minister approves a project like Bay du Nord…a lot of people are disappointed and frustrated. This is the kind of project the minister in his previous life would have fought against.
Guilbeault does not necessarily disagree.
“I obviously didn’t come into politics to endorse oil projects,” he said. “If I was alone, making the decision for myself, this is not the decision I would have made. … But I am now the environment and climate minister for 38 million people.
Guilbeault grew up in La Tuque, Quebec, a town of 11,000 where forestry has long helped drive the economy. Virtually everyone he knew had a relative who worked at the local pulp and paper mill, which put him in a good place to deal with the human stakes of the boom and bust cycles of resource towns.
“I think it’s helpful to keep in mind that we want to be ambitious about a lot of things when it comes to protecting the environment,” Guilbeault said. “But we also have to keep in mind that we’re doing it in a way that’s respectful to those affected in those sectors.”
In his first environmental protest, at age 5, he climbed a tree in the woods behind his house to stop developers from cutting him down.
He co-founded Équiterre in 1993 and spent years with Greenpeace, known for its confrontational tactics.
At a meeting of Group of Seven environment ministers this year, he was asked if this was his first such meeting.
“Well, that depends on how you see it,” Guilbeault replied. “I protested a number of them before.”
In 2010, a Globe and Mail column — titled “Steven who? Steven Guilbeault. Remember the name” – praised his “impressive record of activism” and predicted he would “probably” enter politics “one day”.
He entered the fray in 2019 as the candidate for Trudeau’s Liberals, despite his public opposition to the government’s controversial 2018 decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline. He was Minister of Heritage before being transferred to his current post.
In Canada’s oil patch, the appointment of a former environmental activist was greeted cautiously at best – and seen by some as a deliberate insult. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said it sent a “very problematic” message. Harold Kvisle, chairman of Calgary-based energy company ARC Resources, said it was a “shot in the eye”.
Neither responded to requests for comment for this article.
Trudeau, seeking to balance Canada’s climate goals with its economic dependence on the energy sector, has frustrated groups on both sides.
His government has put a price on carbon and passed a law that requires him to report his progress towards achieving its climate goals in Parliament. Days before Bay du Nord’s approval, it released its most detailed plan to get there, which requires the oil and gas sector to cut emissions 42% below 2019 levels by 2030.
But the environment commissioner, a government watchdog, has identified several problems: Canada is the worst performing country in the G-7 since the signing of the Paris agreement. He overestimated how much the use of hydrogen could reduce emissions. And he is “not ready” to support those affected by a transition away from fossil fuels.
Guilbeault said environmentalists used to call him a “radical pragmatist” – someone pursuing “radical” policies while recognizing that achieving his goals cannot “happen overnight”. Yet, he said, when he was an activist he did not fully appreciate “the intricacies” of government and “how difficult it can be to act quickly”.
“I think that’s my biggest challenge,” he said. “That being said, I think we have to learn to do things faster.”
When he approved Bay du Nord, Guilbeault imposed 137 legally binding conditions that Norwegian energy giant Equinor must meet if it decides to go ahead with the $12 billion project. These included, for the first time, the requirement that the project achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Critics object that the condition applies only to the drilling operation, not to emissions resulting from burning hundreds of millions of barrels of oil over the project’s decades-long lifetime.
Tim Gray, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Defence, said having an environment minister with an activist background has made a difference, particularly in the way climate change is discussed . He hailed what he called “really progressive action” to ban certain disposable plastics and promote electric vehicles.
But he and others say the government’s plans to meet its Paris targets rely too much on carbon capture and storage – a technology that seeks to stop carbon emissions from escaping into the atmosphere and stores them. rather underground. His “fundamental mistake,” Gray said, is believing he can fight climate change while expanding fossil fuel extraction.
Gray says he recognizes Guilbeault is in a tricky position.
“Steven, in particular, given his history…believes deeply in the need for climate action,” he said. “On a personal level, I fully understand the constraints to which he is subjected. But he is part of a government that has a responsibility to act. And so, you know, I think he has to wear it too.
