>Here’s the to-do list Danielle Smith has set for Mark Carney. He has to:
* approve her proposal to build a pipeline from Alberta to the northern coast of British Columbia that has no private sector sponsor and no declared route;
* push it through over the strenuous objections of the government of B.C., environmental organizations, and the affected Indigenous groups, all of whom are sure to do everything they can to stop the project: legally, politically, and physically; and
* sweep away a raft of federal laws and regulations said to be responsible for the lack of private sector interest, including the cap on oil-sands emissions, the Impact Assessment Act and the ban on large oil tankers off the B.C. coast.
>And he has to commit to doing all this inside of five weeks – in time to include the pipeline on a list of “major projects” receiving federal backing, to be released mid-November. The proposal will not be submitted to the federal Major Projects Office until May. Still, the Alberta Premier says she needs “a signal” of federal intentions before then.
>Oh, one more thing: If he does not agree to every line of this ultimatum, it will not only be the Prime Minister’s credibility that is in question, according to Ms. Smith, but Canada itself. “This is a test,” she declared, “of whether Canada works as a country.”
>[…]
>Were it not for the implied threat to the country, one might say: fair enough. Since entering politics, Mr. Carney has been playing a double game, suggesting he was open to building pipelines even as he promised no pipeline would be “imposed” on anyone. Ms. Smith wants to flush him out, and pin him down — to force him to choose.
>To now, Mr. Carney and his ministers have been able to fend off any questions about their ultimate commitment by insisting “there’s no proposal” in front of them. Ms. Smith has sought to close off that escape route by presenting her own proposal. That’s a gamble on her part: were Mr. Carney to do as she asks, and still no private sponsor emerged, she would be left looking foolish. But to get to that point he’d have to spend large amounts of political capital – existential amounts, possibly.
>What Ms. Smith is asking of him is not just to clear away any federal regulatory obstacles to its construction, but to back it in the face of determined B.C and Indigenous opposition. While some Indigenous groups are in favour, it is enough that any of those whose territory the line would cross are opposed to pose a major political risk.
>[…]
>At any rate, two points should be emphasized. One, the regulation of interprovincial pipelines is a *federal responsibility*: B.C. has no legal power to stop it. Whatever the feds decide, only they have the authority to decide it.
>But two: their responsibility is to *decide*, not necessarily to approve. It’s fair for Ms. Smith to put pressure on Mr. Carney to decide the matter her way. It’s not fair – it is unacceptable – to threaten Canada in the process.
!ping Can
ProfessionalStudy732 on
This is my problem with the current mega projects or whatever they are called. It’s less about institutional and regulatory reform and just raw political will and consensus.
While Carney is certainly better than Trudeau I am finding his current slate of reforms underwhelming for the problems Canada faces. These reforms should make it easier for any project to be launched and approved not just the hand selected few.
The Alberta Premier isn’t helping by acting like a toddler with a wooden spoon in a high chair. Banging on about their special interests.
MagicWalrusO_o on
I just do not understand Alberta’s constant trying to pick a fight with BC–they have more leverage now than they ever would as an independent country.
3 Comments
Archived version: [https://archive.fo/vMn38](https://archive.fo/vMn38).
>Here’s the to-do list Danielle Smith has set for Mark Carney. He has to:
* approve her proposal to build a pipeline from Alberta to the northern coast of British Columbia that has no private sector sponsor and no declared route;
* push it through over the strenuous objections of the government of B.C., environmental organizations, and the affected Indigenous groups, all of whom are sure to do everything they can to stop the project: legally, politically, and physically; and
* sweep away a raft of federal laws and regulations said to be responsible for the lack of private sector interest, including the cap on oil-sands emissions, the Impact Assessment Act and the ban on large oil tankers off the B.C. coast.
>And he has to commit to doing all this inside of five weeks – in time to include the pipeline on a list of “major projects” receiving federal backing, to be released mid-November. The proposal will not be submitted to the federal Major Projects Office until May. Still, the Alberta Premier says she needs “a signal” of federal intentions before then.
>Oh, one more thing: If he does not agree to every line of this ultimatum, it will not only be the Prime Minister’s credibility that is in question, according to Ms. Smith, but Canada itself. “This is a test,” she declared, “of whether Canada works as a country.”
>[…]
>Were it not for the implied threat to the country, one might say: fair enough. Since entering politics, Mr. Carney has been playing a double game, suggesting he was open to building pipelines even as he promised no pipeline would be “imposed” on anyone. Ms. Smith wants to flush him out, and pin him down — to force him to choose.
>To now, Mr. Carney and his ministers have been able to fend off any questions about their ultimate commitment by insisting “there’s no proposal” in front of them. Ms. Smith has sought to close off that escape route by presenting her own proposal. That’s a gamble on her part: were Mr. Carney to do as she asks, and still no private sponsor emerged, she would be left looking foolish. But to get to that point he’d have to spend large amounts of political capital – existential amounts, possibly.
>What Ms. Smith is asking of him is not just to clear away any federal regulatory obstacles to its construction, but to back it in the face of determined B.C and Indigenous opposition. While some Indigenous groups are in favour, it is enough that any of those whose territory the line would cross are opposed to pose a major political risk.
>[…]
>At any rate, two points should be emphasized. One, the regulation of interprovincial pipelines is a *federal responsibility*: B.C. has no legal power to stop it. Whatever the feds decide, only they have the authority to decide it.
>But two: their responsibility is to *decide*, not necessarily to approve. It’s fair for Ms. Smith to put pressure on Mr. Carney to decide the matter her way. It’s not fair – it is unacceptable – to threaten Canada in the process.
!ping Can
This is my problem with the current mega projects or whatever they are called. It’s less about institutional and regulatory reform and just raw political will and consensus.
While Carney is certainly better than Trudeau I am finding his current slate of reforms underwhelming for the problems Canada faces. These reforms should make it easier for any project to be launched and approved not just the hand selected few.
The Alberta Premier isn’t helping by acting like a toddler with a wooden spoon in a high chair. Banging on about their special interests.
I just do not understand Alberta’s constant trying to pick a fight with BC–they have more leverage now than they ever would as an independent country.