'I came into politics so I could continue to be an activist': Steven Guilbeault on oil, idealism and being branded a traitor

Nicknamed 'Green Jesus', Canada's environment minister once scaled the CN Tower in a climate protest. Ahead of efforts at Cop15 in Montreal to stop the destruction of nature, he explains why he approved a controversial oil projectA young boy in rural Canada learns the forest he loves will be chopped down, so he scales one of the trees and refuses to leave. He fails in his mission - but the destruction resonates deeply. In his adolescence, he studies politics and theology, fascinated by questions of power and moral obligation. As an adult, he scales the world's tallest building - which was then the CN Tower in Toronto - to protest the destruction of the climate, only leaving when he's escorted down in handcuffs. He rejects owning a car, cycling through the pounding rain, sleet and ice of a Quebec winter. A local newspaper calls him "Green Jesus".Fast forward to April 2022 and that same man, Steven Guilbeault, greenlights a controversial oil-drilling project off the coast of Newfoundland in his role as Canada's minister of environment and climate change. Continue reading...