What the guy who got into a shouting match with Danielle Smith at a climate conference thinks of the exchange
CBC
Derek Power didn't come to Alberta expecting to get into a shouting match with the premier of the province.
But when he found himself in that situation, he decided to roll with it.
"I've always been a bit of a loud mouth," he said with a laugh, the day after his heated exchange with Premier Danielle Smith made headlines and trended on social media.
Power, aptly named, runs a rooftop solar company based in Toronto. He travelled to Calgary to attend the Pembina Institute's Alberta Climate Summit on Thursday and do some networking while in town.
He also happened to be seated near the stage when Smith, a keynote speaker at the event, asked whether anyone in the audience thought it was possible to build the amount of infrastructure needed for Alberta's electricity grid to reach net-zero by 2035.
Numerous people in the crowd responded: "Yes."
Smith turned to the audience and gestured toward Power, in particular, whose voice boomed above the din of the crowd.
The two went back and forth for about 30 seconds, talking over each other at points, Smith with a microphone in hand and Power, unamplified, doing his best to be heard.
The event host, Dave Kelly, tried to steer the premier's attention back to their on-stage discussion, but neither Smith nor her impromptu interlocutor were having it. Staring directly at one another, they continued to verbally spar.
"What do you know that my industry experts don't know?" the premier asked, her voice rising.
Power's voice rose, too.
"I know 17 years of solar rooftop," he said. "Let's talk about it."
"And what do I do when there's no sun and no wind?" Smith replied.
"When there's no sun," Power shot back, "I've got batteries galore."