Alberta and what army?
By Matthew Fraser, Opinions Editor
Itās a shame the two provinces have no army to enforce their sanction wishes with.
Though Joe Biden has said unequivocally that he does not support the Green New Deal, he has chosen to piggyback the Biden Plan on top of it. One 0f the ideas included in this Biden plan was rescinding the Keystone XL (KXL) permit. As the vice president under former President Obama, he was involved in denying the pipeline effort six years ago; now in his post-Trump presidency, he must redo what was undone by the prior administration. Other Canadian government officials have acknowledged that this was telegraphed by Biden during his campaign, yet somehow, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was unaware.
In a fascinating interview with CBC, Kenney seems to have the foresight to know that if this act of overturning the KXL permit is allowed to stand unpunished, environmentalists may soon come after other Canadian pipelines like Line 3 and Line 5. How exactly was it that Kenney could not predict that any incoming Democratic administration would have access to the same levers that former President Trump used to overturn the decision made by Obama? Apparently, this newfound wellspring of foresight and thoughtfulness was untapped when Joe Biden was campaigning on overturning the KXL permit; it must have also been missing when the on-again-off-again pipeline triggered protests last year.
Now that President Biden has rescinded with one pen what Trump did with another, premiers from Saskatchewan and Alberta have called on the federal government to wage war with America (or at least the Biden administration) over the eight billion dollars spent on construction and the $30 billion in predicted lost revenues. Though these numbers are serious and worth considering in light of the economic hardship COVID has garnered, the Alberta government has stymied the improvements to its medical system and doctor compensation throughout the pandemic. They did this to the point of petitioning the College of Physicians and Surgeons to prevent the mass resignation of medical professionals in the midst of the pandemic. Would have been nice to use that foresight and a billion dollars to protect workers and health care service providers in the first place.
Predictably, some First Nations people queried have been overwhelmingly supportive of Joe Bidenās decision, the primary concern being voiced has been about insipient environmental damage. In a too little too late effort to assuage the public, TC Energy Corp announced that it will use carbon neutral methods and provide work for many First Nations people. Had this effort been in place a year to ago it may have had some impact on persuading Biden and the Democratic base, but as a last-minute scramble to make sure that shareholders get their agreed upon desserts, it is uninspiring to say the least.
Unfortunately for Alberta and Saskatchewan, PM Trudeau has put on his best peaceful teacher voice to acknowledge Joe Bidenās decision. Itās a shame the two provinces have no army to enforce their sanction wishes with.
