TORONTO — Actress Jane Fonda said Wednesday that people should not be fooled by “good-looking liberals” like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who “disappointed” her by approving pipelines from the Alberta oil sands.
Fonda said after touring the oil sands area that environmentalists everywhere were impressed by Trudeau at the Paris climate conference in late 2015.
“We all thought, well, cool guy,” Fonda said. “What a disappointment …
“He talked so beautifully of needing to meet the requirements of the climate treaty and to respect and hold to the treaties with indigenous people. Such a heroic stance he took there, and yet he has betrayed every one of the things he committed to in Paris.”
Last year, Trudeau approved Kinder Morgan’s plans to triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast, and he approved replacing Enbridge’s Line 3 to Wisconsin.
But he also pushed ahead with a national carbon price and he rejected Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project to northwest British Columbia, which would pass through the Great Bear Rainforest, as his Liberal Party government tries to balance the oil industry’s desire to tap new markets in Asia against the concerns of environmentalists.
Fonda, a 79-year-old political activist and two-time Oscar winner for best actress for her performances in “Klute” and “Coming Home,” is the latest celebrity to visit and express concerns about the Alberta oil sands. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Hollywood film director James Cameron have also visited.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Fonda is using her celebrity to promote ill-informed information.
Comments are no longer available on this story