Tone-deaf caucus retreat shows why Liberals are rejected here

Federal Environment Minister Catherine Mckenna is right that the Saskatchewan Party government lacks an effective climatechange strategy.

While it’s one thing to say that in Ottawa, it is quite different to come to the heart of the Prairies to dismiss and even boldly condemn any concerns about a carbon tax the duly elected government might have. For that reason, this week’s federal Liberal caucus meeting in Saskatoon accomplished nothing more than a rather large carbon footprint.

Mckenna and the Liberals were not just tone-deaf.

They were downright obtuse to frustrations in the wake of the federal court ruling on the Trans Mountain pipeline, Premier Scott Moe’s well-known disdain for the carbon tax and former Saskatchewan premier and sometimes-self-appointed western voice Brad Wall’s assertions that he hasn’t witnessed this level of western alienation in Alberta and Saskatchewan in his adult life.

The federal Liberals’ Saskatchewan retreat should have provided some conciliatory sense of empathy to real-world problems out here. Instead, they offered quite the opposite.

“We’ve been clear that the provinces (are) the best place to design a system that makes sense for them,” Mckenna told reporters, suggesting that Saskatchewan’s refusal to resubmit an acceptable climate-change plan by the Sept. 1 deadline is a refusal to recognize that pollution has costs. “But we’ve been also clear — and the prime minister’s been extremely clear — that if provinces don’t take serious climate action, if they don’t recognize the cost of pollution, that we will have to step in and we will return the revenues to the individuals directly.”

Intransigently dictating that Ottawa “will have to step in and we will return the revenues to the individuals directly” was likely a big reason why Moe described his 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday as “frosty.”

“The federal government should recognize the Prairie Resilience plan that we have put forward, that has real results not only in emissions reductions here in the province but in the ability to enhance sequestration and have a real impact on climate change.”

Sure, Mckenna is right about how obstreperous the Sask.

Party government has been. By the time Moe took over from Wall, it was clear the Sask. Party was never going to accept the federal Liberals’ carbon-pricing formula that concludes with a $50-a-tonne levy by 2022.

But with the arrival of Doug Ford’s brand of Progressive Conservatives in Ontario this summer, Saskatchewan is no longer a lone voice in the western wilderness. The chorus is likely soon to be joined by Alberta United Conservative Party Opposition Leader Jason Kenney. If not, that province’s NDP Premier Rachel Notley is putting carbon-tax implementation on hiatus over the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The Liberals need to tune in. An NDP premier is aligning with Conservatives against a federal environmental policy. Wall — a passionate guy, but not exactly known for fits of hysterical hyperbole — is describing all this in terms of heightened western sovereignty sentiments.

Yes, there’s always politics in play. There have even been rumblings about the formulation of a far bigger western (specifically, anti-federal Liberal) political lobby backed by oil money. Wall’s name has been tossed out as a possible front for this. But one might think that would have alerted Liberals to the reality that they needed to provide something other than scolding for not supporting their unpopular tax. An offer to explore how Saskatchewan could build on its plan? Maybe even alter the formula? How about even a tiny acknowledgment that Moe may be right — that there’s been no evidence the federal plan will actually reduce emissions?

Instead, we got what we always get when the Liberals come out West. They tossed a few bucks towards First Nations. They ignored the elected leadership. And then they tried to pretend this was somehow a reasoned, fruitful exchange. It wasn’t.

The Liberals needed to read the room. Or at least, they needed to acknowledge that rather large elephant sitting in the middle of it.