Smith must bide her time before criticizing Redford
Danielle Smith would do well to heed the famous order handed down by Gen. James Wolfe before the momentous battle on Quebec’s Plains of Abraham.
In addition to being a defining moment in Canadian history, Wolfe’s words became a mantra for many commanders in the field — the Americans tried to claim them as their own following the Battle of Bunker Hill against the British Redcoats 25 years later.
Wolfe said: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
The eyes in question for Smith aren’t those of the French. No, they belong to the woman who already has the job of premier, Alison Redford, because the fates are conspiring against the current government as the storm clouds of a financial Armageddon roll in across the province.
It was bad enough in the springtime with a $3-billion budget shortfall, a U.S. president who loves to talk but hates to make up his mind about a vital pipeline, a B.C. premier playing hardball over future oil shipments through her province, and the Stateside love affair with our natural gas coming to an end with the shale gas revolution allied to worldwide environmental suspicion about the oilsands.
Then came the floods. Two months after that awful event, the bills are coming due with a vengeance. The province quickly promised a billion, but costs rose to $3 billion a few weeks ago. Now, it is well over $5 billion and climbing. That sort of inflation rate would make Robert Mugabe wince.
Yet those costs are just estimates for rebuilding infrastructure and helping those whose homes were caught by the raging rivers. It doesn’t include money to try and ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Yes, Ottawa has pledged help.
But remember, this is a government led by a man who amazingly has turned prorogue into a household word. Nailing Stephen Harper down on a firm number will be neither quick nor easy.
In reality, the province’s finances are in tatters and, as Redford warned this week, tough times are ahead.
Which brings us back to Smith and her Wildrose buddies.
Just as Harper did in the past, Smith learned the hard way that the closer a party comes to power, the more scrutiny and the more likely that some inexperienced fool will open his big mouth on one of those “social topics” and scare the heck out of voters.
Control that, stick to the economy, and the golden chalice of political power is within reach. Because if there is something Albertans abhor, it is debt and deficits.
We took perverse pride when Ralph Klein blew up a hospital because we just couldn’t afford to fix it. It was a tough time, but we came through it with heads held high, even if some couldn’t see too well because of those delays in cataract surgeries.
Klein’s buddy, Jim Dinning, as provincial treasurer, even ring-fenced the budget process to ensure we never got back into that mess. But, just like some of those homes along the Elbow River, the fences were washed away and we’re underwater yet again.
To Redford, it must seem unfair. She can hardly be blamed for the heavens opening, even if there are questions about ignored warnings from earlier floods.
Nor is it her fault natural gas prices imploded, or that the U.S., verging on energy self-sufficiency, can now afford to play hardball with Canadian oil imports.
But that’s life and life is politics.
For Smith, the temptation to go on constant attack must be overwhelming. But that already backfired with her knee-jerk call for a pub- lic inquiry into the High River flooding.
It was understandable as area MLA, but it was still a mistake.
It was way too early and allowed Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths to easily shrug the plea aside, saying money for such a lengthy probe would be better spent on rebuilding.
Things are going to get worse long before they get better for Alberta’s finances.
Taxes may rise, jobs could go, and debt could certainly balloon — even the dreaded whisper, “sales tax,” will be heard.
The time will come for full-scale attack. But for now, it’s too early. The whites of those eyes are not yet in view.