Trudeau sides with Alberta over pipeline dispute. Now how will he back up his words
February 2, 2018
Trudeau was hostile with locals at a BC at Townhall meeting over the Kinder Morgan pipeline, saying its going ahead like it or not.
Justin Trudeau apparently had no idea that the audience didnt like him when he held a town-hall meeting in Nanaimo, B.C., in front of an audience that was vocal and hostile to both him and his government’s decision to back the construction of the $7.4 billion Kinder Morgan pipeline.
As he entered the room, one man shouted: “You’re a snake, you’re a liar.”
He was drowned out repeatedly until he lost his cool, yelling at his accuser. In dictatorial fashion saying, “Come on, come on. Really? Are you going to respect the people in this room? If not, you need to leave,” he said.
The police were called in to eject the prime minister’s critics, but the heckling continued throughout .
Trudeau foolishly took political risks – as he did when he fought Sen. Patrick Brazeau; as he did when he decided the Liberals would campaign on running deficits in 2015.
Trudeau was in deep hostile terrain, no idea that BC was so against this policy.
Trudeau faced a belligerent audience. “We will be moving forward with the Kinder Morgan pipeline,” he said, explaining it was part of the government’s plan to balance the environment and the economy. “That is the nature of the compromise we have taken in the best interests of the country.”
It was about as warm as if he’d asked the audience in Edmonton for a round of applause for his father.
It was a bold performance but that makes it all the more curious why the prime minister has not backed up the rhetoric with a promise to act.
The B.C. government has said it will restrict the transportation of bitumen until there are further studies on the impact of spills.
Rachel Notley, the Alberta Premier, has pointed out that this is unconstitutional and has threatened to retaliate by suspending discussions on the purchase of electricity from B.C. Jason Kenney, the provincial Opposition leader, has mused about a blockade to stop oil flowing to B.C.
Protesters hold up signs as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a town hall meeting in Nanaimo, B.C., on Friday, Feb. 2, 2018.
Alberta’s case was bolstered this week by a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute that suggested oil and gas producers are struggling to stay competitive with U.S. companies because of lack of pipeline capacity.
Yet, Trudeau’s line that he doesn’t want to “opine on disagreements between provinces” is nonsense.
By making the case he did in Nanaimo, Trudeau is clearly siding with Notley and her contention that the federal government has approved Kinder Morgan and the B.C. government has no jurisdiction, a done deal.
If the NDP/Green government in Victoria does not back down, Trudeau will pursue federal powers to declare the Trans Mountain pipeline a work for the general advantage of Canada under the Constitution Act, a move that would remove the authority of provincial and municipal governments.
It was a bold perhaps foolish political move for the prime minister – the Liberals would lose seats in British Columbia as a result. He has already picked which side he is on. On Friday, in Nanaimo, he looked this province in the eyes and told them the pipeline was approved by Ottawa – and what measures the government has taken to mitigate spills.
It was display of crude politics.
But real leadership requires him to take the next step and head off a brewing national unity crisis by making it clear that new delaying tactics will not be tolerated. If not what might we see?
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