Catherine McKenna hopes to bully Jason Kenney into carbon tax submission

Minister of the Environment, Catherine McKenna has fired back at Premier-elect Jason Kenney after his fiery victory speech condemning the federal government’s failure to support the province’s oil industry.

“I don’t want to speculate on what’s going to happen, but we’ve been clear that it should not be free to pollute anywhere in the country and we have a backstop should provinces not have a price on pollution,” said McKenna in an interview with the Globe and Mail.

After his victory, the federal government was a prominent target in Kenney’s speech, where he insisted that his province will use all legal options to ensure that the oil industry prospers.

McKenna’s comments are the first time that the federal government has commented on Kenney’s position since the election.

The UCP was elected on April 16th with a majority government, defeating the outgoing NDP government of Rachel Notley in a landslide victory.

Since being elected on Tuesday, Kenney has confirmed that he has spoken to the prime minister on a variety of issues including energy and pipeline development.

“We had a respectful conversation about a number of issues, including the need to get Canadian energy to foreign markets,” said Kenney.

McKenna has confirmed that the federal government is interested in working with the new Premier but warns that his plan to repeal Alberta’s carbon pricing will be met with resistance. Currently, Alberta is paying a carbon tax of $30 a tonne on emissions.