Conservatives can huff and puff, but where’s their better idea?

Andrew Scheer’s party has yet to offer a better solution

Since Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives have positioned themselves as champions of the energy industry they will have plenty of ammunition to fling at Justin Trudeau and the Liberals as MPs return to the House of Commons this week.

Most of it will stem from the morass caused by the judicial decision that halted expansion of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline, designed to deliver diluted bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast and is about to be owned by the federal government.

Using $4.5 billion of taxpayers’ money to buy a pipeline that seems to be going nowhere now looks like a terrible decision. Especially when according to judges on the Federal Court of Appeal the federal government hadn’t lived up to its responsibilities to First Nations, or to protect endangered species, in this case orca whales, when it approved construction.

The Conservatives can hammer away at Trudeau on those points. They can yell about the failure of Trudeau’s climate change strategy that didn’t deliver social license for the pipeline as it was supposed to. They can bemoan the obstacles to resource projects. They can wail about the dire economic impact on Alberta, where they hold most of the seats.

But besides blame, what do the Conservatives actually have to offer when it comes to reviving the pipeline?

Kinder Morgan threatened to abandon the project last May because the B.C. government and environmentalists had set up so many costly road blocks.

So wouldn’t the situation be worse if the federal government hadn’t taken over the pipeline in the face of strong opposition from B.C.? It has much more of an obligation to complete construction and recover revenue from it for no other reason than taxpayers’ money is at stake.

There’s no question the Conservatives can capitalize on the anger of many Albertans and supporters in B.C. and Saskatchewan who are seething over yet another delay or perhaps the death of the pipeline.

That anger will fuel opposition to carbon levies and cap and trade programs that are part of Trudeau’s climate change plan asburdensome, unnecessary taxes.

But then what? Does getting rid of a price on carbon change anything when it comes to getting a pipeline completed? And yet, in the conservative mind, snuffing Trudeau’s carbon taxes will fix everything, even stalled pipelines.

In Alberta, Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), who may become Alberta’s next premier and seems to be mentoring Scheer and Ontario premier Doug Ford in the meantime, says getting rid of the carbon tax will be his first priority if the UCP wins in next year’s election.

As if that will somehow instantaneously revive the pipeline.

He has also threatened to withhold Alberta’s contribution to the federal equalization program in a bid to force the federal government into binding negotiations. And he has suggested that Alberta withhold energy supplies to B.C. if the government there doesn’t withdraw its opposition to the pipeline.

In true bully style, conservatives seem to believe they can ram through a pipeline simply because they want to.

But the Trudeau Liberals still hold all the cards. They could decide to rectify the shortcomings pinpointed by the Federal Court of Appeal on a short time line, they could appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, or they could legislate a quick fix.

Any of those options mean a delay in construction but for governments that reap oil royalties, oil producers, and people who work in the industry, a delay is better than no pipeline at all.

Of course, for Scheer and the Conservatives getting rid of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals is the best way to ensure that the pipeline goes ahead. But they have yet to explain exactly how they plan to get Trans Mountain built.

Until they do, all their huffing and puffing will amount to nothing but hot air.