Jason Kenney has been the unquestioned ruler of the cowboy province of Alberta for only a day, and already he is trying to break up the country.
Demanding that British Columbia give him his pipeline or else.
Premier Jason Kenney has touched off a legal battle with British Columbia after his new Alberta government proclaimed a bill that could block oil and gas exports to the West Coast, prompting B.C. to file court action.
While so far treating his arch enemy Justin Trudeau with kid gloves.
And with good reason, for even Kenney must by now realize that he has shot himself in the foot.
This week, Alberta’s new premier took careful aim at British Columbia, pulled the trigger … and shot himself in the foot.
By proclaiming into law Alberta’s infamous “turn off the taps” legislation against British Columbia, Jason Kenney has escalated tensions with B.C., sparked what could become an interprovincial trade war, and undermined Alberta’s legal position in that fight.
Since B.C. doesn't own the pipeline, Justin Trudeau does, and he has the power to punish Kenney's bad behaviour by delaying or cancelling the TMX project.
As Jamie Carroll, a former national director of the Liberal Party suggests Trudeau should do here.
The nastiness of the upcoming campaign is a virtual certainty and there are other areas where Liberals need to significantly bolster their positions (i.e., the perception of their handling of the economy in the Ontario ‘burbs), but given the likely regional splits in this year’s upcoming election, why would Justin Trudeau stick to his promise to build TMX?
As things stand, it is absolutely clear that Trudeau will not win any new seats in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Ontario (he won more seats in ON in 2015 than Doug Ford currently holds as Premier). He already holds all the seats (yes, all 32) in Atlantic Canada. That leaves exactly two places where he has either a physical possibility or a notional hope of picking up new seats: British Columbia and Quebec.
Now, he asked rhetorically, what do those two provinces have in common? A deep, abiding hatred of oil pipelines.
Not just to punish Kenney, but also to boost his chances of being re-elected in the upcoming federal election.
Kenney would of course go ballistic, and the Con media would no doubt be in a frigging frenzy. But I think most Canadians would understand that a deal is a deal.
It was absolutely clear from both Trudeau and Notley that Alberta’s carbon tax was the quid pro quo for Trudeau’s commitment to a new or expanded pipeline.
Why wouldn’t Trudeau proudly stand in Vancouver and tell British Columbians when Kenney axes the carbon tax that Alberta has broken its word and therefore he is not keeping his.
And besides let's be honest, a lot of progressive Canadians would love to see Alberta put in its place, and Kenney humiliated.
Especially since he's already out of control.
And only his Godzilla knows what he might do tomorrow...
So I was happy to see John Ivison write that Justin Trudeau is apparently itching to take on Kenney.
Sources suggest the Trudeau government is actively considering the idea of blocking the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which the federal government owns, if Kenney’s Alberta government overturns a pledge by its predecessor to cap carbon emissions from the oilsands at 100 megatons a year.
The logic is that if there is no climate change plan, there can be no more pipelines – a commitment that would likely play well in British Columbia and Quebec, where the Liberals believe they can pick up seats in the October election.
And the reason is obvious: taking on Kenney would also help Trudeau defeat Andrew Scheer.
If only because most Canadians would hate to think what these two religious fanatics and political thugs might do to Canada if they ever got to rule it together...
Along with all these other Con clowns...
For everybody knows it would be the end of the war on climate change, and the beginning of the Con war on this country and its values.
And the good news?
Kenney likes to talk big, but when push comes to shove he usually cuts and runs. Like he did when he cracked down on the temporary foreign workers problem he had himself created.
Only to run for cover when employers who depended on those kinds of workers came after him...
This is not to say that Kenney isn't dangerous, and won't lead this country into a serious national unity crisis.
But luckily Canada also has a strong sheriff, his name is Justin Trudeau.
And as I predicted the other day, he has climate change on his side.
And he will teach Kenney a lesson he will never forget...
P.S. In other business I'm back!! I had to make a quick trip to Scotland and I'll have something to say about that maybe this weekend. But thanks to Callum for handling the comments, sorry I couldn't answer them, but I'll get around to answering as many as I can as soon as I have recovered from my excellent adventure...
25 comments:
Jason has threatened Canada with Alberta separation , he's even holding his breath till he turns blue. If he thinks getting a bigger pipe through BC is hard now, think about his problems as a different country.
FYI: John Ivison has a new slam book about Justin coming out in August. Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister. Implying that the teacher needs to be schooled or sent to detention wearing a dunce cap. Came up on my Amazon recommendations while I was browsing listings for Chrétien's new memoir and Sacha's travelogue. (When is Sophie going to write a book? I like Sophie.) I don't own an Echo device, but if I did, I'd have to tell Alexa to remind me to forget to buy it.
Why isn't Mr. Carroll advising Trudeau? Certainly the comms team needs a lot of shaping up. It's practically nonexistent and operating like it's the 20th century. Where's the Liberal version of Canada Proud? In any event, grappling with the petro-putz sounds like a decent proposal to me. If (big if) Trudeau kills the pipeline, and the gamble doesn't work out in Justin's favor for the election, at least he would bid adieu on a high note by giving Kluless Klutz Klanney a Salmon Arm Salute... from Salmon Arm itself. And if it does salvage his abysmal numbers and box in Andy Pander, maybe he gets a much needed boost on the side of history by channeling his old man -- in the year that would have been Papa's centennial at that. If he doesn't... I dunno, judging by the numbers at least, Canadians don't seem to care all that much about the Cons being racist (a frightening and sobering reality) as much as they do about the propagandized perception that Justin is both Crooked Hillary and Trump with nice hair. Not to channel Ronald Reagan here, but... Mr. Trudeau, tear down that pipe.
I hope you enjoyed your much-needed trip, Simon, and that your arm has healed up. Things are looking really stupid on this side of the pond, but welcome back.
Great to have you back Simon and great post! Right on the money!
I was just saying yesterday Trudeau should only twin the pipe if they promise to use it only for refined product and never diluted bitumen! Send the bitumen as pucks as a solid on old coal cars overseas as then it is easy to scoop up if there’s a catastrophe. Make Alberta refine the resource and add value and jobs instead of shipping it raw so other countries can profit from the upgrading.
Trudeau holds all the cards and Kenney sounds like he’s a mad man (likely is) — he’s only been sworn in for 2 days and I lose count as to how many law suits he threatens — “I’m going to sue” is his rallying cry — great days for lawyers and taxpayers foot the bill.
All these old washed up cons are so ‘yesterday’s man’ — living in their rear view mirror or with a distorted view of reality. All god guys too so I guess torching the planet just gives them the ‘second coming’ sooner in their weak brains.
There are so many forces at play now and big funding for publications like the new ‘ORCA.ca’ putting out propaganda refuting climate change and pushing the petroleum expansion agenda. This election will be one of the most important in our lifetimes I think as we will never recover from the Sheer madness - Trump lite — we will be considered the pariah country pushing bitumen as a dealer does with bad drugs.
Thanks for all your tireless work Simon. We look to your blog every day to remind us that we are the sane ones and on the right side of humanity and history when it seems like so much is crazy. Sadly the American toxic right wing virus is now infecting Canada.
Let’s channel Spain in October! So refreshing to see a country rising to the future.
Speaking of lawsuits from the Kudatah Koch Klan, Kerry Idiotte has threatened a SLAPP lawsuit against Amarjeet Sohi for exposing his connections to Faith Goldy. Something tells me there's deeper issues making the Cons nervous about their connections to Rebel being peeled back. If we go on the presumption that everything Cons say is projection, um... anyone wanna dig up a certain tweet from Rachel Curran about Trudeau's alleged promiscuity? Is Faith the Maria Butina of Canada? What exactly does "duck hunting" really mean? Hey, I'm just asking the questions. It would be irresponsible not to speculate...
Although the following numbers are approximate the Notley Trudeau deal was a $30/ ton ( $1.80 / barrel) carbon price and a 100 megaton ( 5 million barrels/day ) cap in exchange for a pipeline. Current production runs at 3 million barrels per day so the cap is many years off. The carbon tax is recycled into top paying Alberta research jobs. In addition the pipeline in conjunction with Keystone XL should raise the selling price of the product by approx $15/barrel. Not a bad deal for a $1.80 investment, add the fact that investment LOVES certainty with little downside and its a win win except for the Unicorn chasers. Cons cannot survive in a relatively certain environment, so scrap the agreements and here come uncertainty and division ... the Cons best friend!
RT
He not only shot himself in the foot, he shoved it in his mouth as well. Only 4 more years of this clown, Alberta. I feel badly for the people who didn't vote for this virgin bride as they will suffer because of his/her/its incompetence. He can spew all the threats and bullshit he wants but at the end of the day, JT has the final say and if he slows or puts off transmountain then so be it. JT wont be bullied, JK. If you don't believe me then just watch him.
JD
Agree with JD. Wimps like Kenney the momma’s boy — underestimates the toughness of JT as do his followers. JT is the one with the currency and power.
Just imagine if it was JT that claimed expenses as a 50+ year old living in his momma’s basement and a virgin at over 50 never having had a date with either a woman or a man in his entire lifetime. They try to feminize JT when he’s a proud father of 3 children and took it to Brazeau and left him on the mat.
Kenney has no clue what has been going on in Alberta all these years. This company of mostly American directors that just dumped 4700 wells onto the taxpayer in Alberta today is just the start of a snowball. Kenney still thinks he’s auditioning for the PM’s job and ran off to Otttawa within minutes of being sworn in as he feels ‘at home’ there not in Alberta. He’s no Albertan and has no idea how to manage a province that has been mismanaged for 40 years.
Please pity all of us Albertans that don’t support the insanity! I suspect the rest of Canada will hold its own referendum asking Alberta to separate — please! Alberta sees it as a threat while the rest of Canada is hoping it’s a promise!
I hope and pray he does call Kenney's bluff, because of this little tidbit in Ivison's column:
...it is conceivable that Trudeau will be persuaded the electoral math demands he come down on one side or the other. By mothballing plans to expand TMX he would help steal progressive votes from the NDP and, in all likelihood, govern in perpetuity.
I really like the idea that far from being a one-term dud, such a bold act would destroy the Cons, unite progressives behind him once more, and have him seeing the kids off to college as PM. But as Carroll said, it comes down to whether he has the "killer instinct" to heed the chorus of advice now imploring him to tell Kenney to fuddle-duddle. He's not his combative father, shooting from the hip with zingers like "zap, you're frozen," but I nevertheless hope that in the "politest" of ways, he delivers the same result. As Trump is so fond of saying, it would be yuuuuge.
Yes, Alberta will secede from Canada and join the Turks and Caicos Islands, fulfilling a dream from the Lougheed years!
Jackie Blue — would love to see JT continue to postpone the twinning of TMX and then make it a refined pipeline product only - no diluted bitumen. May need it one day for water too. Kenney is all hat no cattle as we say here in AB ;). He’s has no plan and no clue just foment acrimony and threat with law suits. He has zero understanding the industry in AB or the transition it is in and has been. He’s nothing more than a politico who has lived off the taxpayer most of his life. Shocking Albertans saw this politico as having any kind of vision to deal with complex issues AB will be dealing with as the industry is forever changed and the halcyon days are not coming back of easy money.
Let’s just hope we keep the smart guys in power in Ottawa to hold down the fort and keep the country strong and united. I wish self respecting true conservatives would get their act together and put decent educated people with real backgrounds into the Con party instead of the fringe political junkies who have rarely held a real job in their lives. Why don’t good people run for the Cons??
Underlining All this Madness is Man's Pure Greed! So, we will see just who has the "Final Say"! I'm betting on Mother Nature......
Hi Anon 9:14, the timing of those 4700 wells being dumped is interesting isn't it? Kenney has barely consumated his marriage to Alberta and they're already lined up to leave. It's not what I'd call a ringing endorsement for the new Crown Prince of Oilberta, Jasonah Bin Lottabull. On the contrary, they see Kenney making a bad situation worse with his threats and bluster that creates uncertainty and is not conducive to attracting any investment into this hornets nest of Kenney's making. With America's energy glut and threats to "turn off the taps" to BC, Kenney will soon have no one to sell his tarry bubbly to.
The future's so "bright" for Alberta under Kenney that they will need night vision goggles to see it. As for separation, the PM, and I don't believe most outside of Alberta want to see that, myself included. So instead of pity, we need to offer support to those caught in the middle of this mess before the caravan's of disaffected Albertans have to uproot themselves and start heading back east.
JD
Why big oil would trash agreements that they likely negotiated and brings stability to the oil sands and associated Canadian employment is a mystery. Also why the voters in Edmonton supported the NDP adds intrigue as their employment is closely associated with the oil sands. Recent news suggests the answer is that it is not the oil sands that has taken the biggest economic hit but all of the smaller oil and gas drilling and production companies that have been caught up in the price destruction caused by the Trump oil shale boom and the Saudi supply glut. Very little to do with the federal liberals and bill C 69 but in true Con fashion lets politically lever it for all its worth! Then there are the deregulate everything tea party Koch brothers that win either way. A faltering oil sands will feed their refineries at a discounted price, deregulation and pipeline builds will lever their massive oil lease holdings into a cash cow, a win win either way. All lead by the basement dwelling juvenile that doesn't know which way is up.
RT
HI Rumleyfips....yes, Kenney's plan makes absolutely no sense. But then remember he lives in a strange world of his own, and I think he's just looking for any excuse to separate and make himself the (Holy) Father of Albertonia. Mark my words, Kenney will trigger the worst national unity crisis this country has ever known. That province is full of angry violent people who are capable of anything...
Hi hinofan...Some in the Turks and Caicos might have once welcomed the idea of joining Canada. But joining the oily province of Alberta is probably something that could give them nightmares. They have some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the Caribbean and the thought of the Oily Messiah wading ashore would be too much to bear...
You'd be right. Mother Nature has no partisan affiliation. For her, this species is a virus. Infinite growth is the mentality of a cancer cell. Nature, heal thyself. Granted, the Cons won't care as they want to hurry up the Rapture anyway, and accelerate the end-times transfer of wealth right into their own pockets. But the rest of us might end up supporting it too, if it means we don't have to share this planet with them anymore either. Forget Grenier and Nate Silver. I'd say that right now, Giant Meteor is proving to be the most popular candidate of all.
Hi Jackie...Thank you, I'm glad to be back, although my trip was strictly for family business, and was far too short. But my arm is completely healed so I did get to go sailing once. I didn't know that John Ivison was writing a book about Trudeau, but since he's from Glasgow I'm sure it will be good. NOT !!!!!! More seriously, I agree with you completely, the Liberal comma team operates as if we were still in the 20th Century. It's a very different Canada and if they don't get their act together soon, the Liberals could be in big trouble. The Cons are such big juicy targets it's time to hit them where it hurts...
Hi anon @12:53 pm....Thank you I'm glad to be back. And your ideas are good ones. It's hard to believe that in the 21st century we are still selling the tarry stuff instead of refining it. The old hewers of wood and drawers of water ways still seem to haunt us. I also agree that we are living through some awful times, and that the next election will be a test of whether this country can survive the right-wing tide. Right now the situation looks desperate, but we are on the right side of history, and if progressives can get their act together we will still win...
Hi RT...yes I think you're right. The bigger Big Oil companies are quite prepared to deal with such things as carbon taxes, but the smaller ones are suffering from the slide in prices and are the ones who are backing Kenney the most. The anger in Alberta is real, and with the Cons pouring dirty oil on the flames I truly believe it could shatter this country. But it's time Albertans understood that the days of oil and roses are almost over, and also time that Trudeau stopped trying to please them, and took more radical steps to green the economy. Climate change is now impossible to ignore, and it has never been easier to show that the Cons are on the wrong side of history...
Hi JD....I hope that you and I are right, and that Justin Trudeau has finally realized that it's a complete waste of time trying to please those oil pimps. Climate change is now such a threat that it's time to start campaigning against the tar sands, instead of continuing to pander to them. And delaying construction of the TMX expansion would be a good start. Alberta is now enemy territory and must be treated like one...
Hi anon@9:14 pm...I do pity all the good Albertans who don't support the insanity of ever more oil at a time when the planet is burning. And I will force myself to remember that when I write about Kenney's Albertonia. As you may know I have been attacking Kenney for as long as I can remember, and was very proud to be one of the first people to be blocked by him on Twitter. I hate him for the way he has tried to bully LGBT children even though he is almost certainly a self loathing closet queen. And like you I don't think he gives a damn about Alberta, but is using it for what he hopes will be just a stepping stone to the prime minister's office. But unfortunately I also believe that he could do great damage to both Alberta and Canada, and his election could prove to be the worst mistake Canadians ever made...
Hi Jackie...I am starting to think that with climate change becoming ever more threatening, Justin has nothing to gain from trying to please Alberta and everything to lose. Does the nice guy have the killer instinct required? For the sake of this country let's hope he does...
Simon I hope JT finds his ‘killer instinct’ and ends trying to please AB — AB is a writeoff — a sacrifice zone. He needs to think of most of Canada and the planet and do what’s right which is fight like h-ll against climate change and go ‘all in’ on a green plan!
AB will never vote for him anyway so there’s no winning but he can win Canada if he fights for the environment. Cheers!
I live in Alberta. I am a liberal supporter, and a provincial NDP supporter.
Alberta is a write-off. The feds need to have the country's best interest in mind. That means climate change takes precedence over kenney-boi and the rest of his redneck knuckle dragging supporters.
Trudeau needs to ignore Alberta. It doesn't matter what he does for Alberta he will never be rewarded with one additional vote here. It would be better for him to focus on climat change, at least that way he'll have a chance of winning extra seats, or at keep the seats he has in BC and Quebec.
He better get over his P.T.S.D. (Pierre Trudeau Stress Syndrome) surrounding the National Energy Program then. Tell Katie Telford to hire a workplace psychologist if need be. He's in a co-dependent relationship with a longtime abuser.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/justin-trudeau-the-north-star-194313/
The eco-spouting Trudeau is also a Keystone-pipeline supporter to the end. Part of this is paying for the sins of his father, who infamously taxed much of Alberta’s oil profits and redistributed the revenue across the country. The younger Trudeau gave a speech in Calgary a few years ago and, afterward, a man shook his hand and said, “Good speech, good to meet you – your dad was a piece of shit.”
This was published in 2017. I'm guessing that speech was in 2013 or 2014. Why the hell would anyone want to play ball with these people? To avoid being "divisive"? Common ground has its limits. A lotta good it did Obama to reach across the aisle to McConnell, only to have the snap turtle reach across and grab his throat!
I hope those lobbyists mentioned in Carroll's and Ivison's articles are getting this through his head. If he still feels like he's caught in dad's shadow and will never be judged as anything but, then forget the myths about the fucking NEP and focus more on emulating the provincial battle with Levesque. If he escalates, and the yellow pests run amok? That's when 1970 comes into play. Because even if he does get knocked out, at least he'll go down fighting. My heart aches for what he must be going through right now.
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