Trudeau made a Faustian bargain

Re: “Trudeau faces a tough balancing act,” column, April 6.

Jack Knox is right about the prime minister’s political miscalculation. Faustian bargains seldom work out well.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hoped to trade Kinder Morgan for a carbon tax and votes in Alberta. Instead, it is difficult to envisage any Liberal MPs from Alberta, and easy to see many of them lost in B.C. He has also sacrificed his honour, breaking clear campaign commitments, along with his environmental image.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s part of the bargain would have been to kick off yet another boom-and-bust cycle without having to diversify their economy, in hope of being reelected. It seems more likely that she will be replaced by someone with an even harder line.

There is now no chance of meeting even minimal climate-change targets for Canada in this prime minister’s term.

Another loss that gets less attention is his claim of a new relationship with Indigenous Peoples, who are in the courts to prevent his pushing a pipeline across their lands without permission. If he does succeed in forcing the pipeline and greatly increased traffic through these straits with only plans and promises for safety and recovery, then the first spill on our coast should bear his name.

Instead of meeting with and listening to us in B.C., he offers his wellworn but never implemented slogan that: “We don’t have to choose between the environment and the economy.” It turns out he means that he chooses political advantage instead.

Janet Bavelas Saanich