PM COURTS ALBERTA
Justin Trudeau has plenty more hearts and minds to win over in Alberta, but the prime minister seems committed to growing his party’s support in the province. The election of four Liberal MPs in the 2015 election is evidence alone that some Albertans, particularly those in big cities such as Calgary and Edmonton, are prepared to give Trudeau a hearing.
The PM and his cabinet held their retreat in Calgary last week, which is a sign that Trudeau will invest political capital to demonstrate he’s interested in the province, its people and the challenges they face as a result of stubbornly low energy prices. It was only last spring that Trudeau brought his ministers to Kananaskis. In fact, as he pointed out last week, he’s visited Calgary five times since becoming prime minister.
Last week’s retreat coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump’s advancement of the Keystone XL pipeline, which had been rejected by Barack Obama for crass political reasons. Trump’s decision, which was expected, provided a glow for the Liberals’ retreat. “This is a very good moment for Alberta,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said last Tuesday.
It was indeed a good day for Alberta, as Carr observed — and for the entire country, given the important role the oilpatch performs as Canada’s economic engine. Trudeau even admitted to misspeaking when he talked three weeks ago about winding down the oilsands at an Ontario town hall meeting.
“We can’t shut down the oilsands tomorrow. We need to phase them out,” he said at the time. Last Tuesday, it was a different story. “I misspoke. I said something the way I shouldn’t have said it,” he conceded. “We know that the transition off of our dependency on fossil fuels is going to take a long time.”
The prime minister’s first remarks were reminiscent of the interview he gave in French in 2010, when he said Canada functions best when it’s in the hands of Quebecers. He revealed indifference to Alberta at the time.
“Canada isn’t doing well right now because it’s Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda. It doesn’t work,” Trudeau said seven years ago.
The prime minister’s recent interest in Alberta is welcomed. Albertans look forward to an unwavering understanding of their contribution to the nation, a commitment by Trudeau that recently approved Canadian pipeline projects will proceed, and assurances that the energy industry won’t be placed at a competitive disadvantage because of climate change policies.
Trump’s unabashed support of the Keystone XL pipeline makes the expectations all that much more clear.