The Alberta NDP leader came out swinging after the UCP's new coal policy was announced on Friday (Dec. 20).
Alberta government announces tougher new Coal rules but Grassy Mountain open-pit mine still a go
NDP leader Naheed Nenshi released a statement shortly after the UCP's news announcement was made.
“The UCP has delivered Albertans a giant lump of coal on a Friday before Christmas, the traditional time when you dump bad news.
“Danielle Smith’s government announced a plan that goes completely counter to what the UCP ran on in 2023 and to what Albertans told them in 2021.
“They released a plan to increase coal mining in Alberta and to do so in a way that has very little economic benefit and very significant environmental risk.
“So for farmers, for ranchers, for the agriculture sector, for people who live downstream, for outdoor enthusiasts this could not be a worse announcement.
“Once again, the premier and her ministers show they listen to lobbyists instead of listening to Albertans.
“This announcement gives us no economic benefit and a lot of environmental risk, a lot of pollution, a lot of challenges for our watershed, a lot of risks to our agricultural industry, and it just shows once again the UCP is a political movement that has no interest in actually being a government.”