Pipeline politics: Premier should jump aboard the Trump bus

Perhaps pipelines are like those proverbial London buses — you wait ages for one and then two come at once.

If so, then that would bring serious relief to our beleaguered city. It might not do much for the thousands vainly looking for stable work before Christmas here in EI Central, but at least it would offer hope for a dispiriting future.

Like everything else now in a state of flux, this potential change in fortune comes courtesy of the remarkable goings-on south of our border, resulting in seven billion of us worldwide suddenly becoming extras in the planet’s most bizarre reality TV show.

So hopefully, when it comes to the pipeline business, The Donald will give the “you’re hired” verdict to Calgary’s TransCanada Corp.’s long delayed and spurned Keystone XL pipeline project to take Alberta crude southward across the 49th parallel.

As it was the White House’s current resident who gave the thumbs down on the pipeline solely by executive order, then Trump — backed by a Republican majority in both houses — can quickly reverse that decision and finally get things rolling. Of course, he wants a better deal — this fellow was born wanting a better deal on diapers — and he might eventually stiff TransCanada on the invoice, but right now we’ll take the risk.

Such a rare chink of light in what has become a relentless Alberta disadvantage reflects on the looming, to-be-made-in-- Canada decision about expanding Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline to the West Coast, a decision promised by Ottawa in the month ahead.

Now attributing common sense to any politician is a mug’s game, but surely the Canadian government would look foolish in vetoing the same type of project a foreign neighbour was blessing.

We’re already poised to further weaken our competitive position against our southern cousins when the carbon tax gets introduced into Alberta in the new year, while, waiting in the wings, the federal Grits are threatening higher levies in years to come. A similar carbon levy being imposed in the U.S. is now as likely as Trump volunteering a personal hair shaving session to raise money for a national mosque-building fund.

Nope, we’re about to deliberately tilt the economic playing field in North America, and not to our advantage. No wonder everyone loves Canada.

Meanwhile, clinging to the edge of this bizarre new world, sits our premier. It is unlikely she ever envisaged this push-me-pull-me moral dilemma she now finds herself in, back in those golden days 18 months ago when her party grabbed the brass ring against all odds.

A few months ago, Notley’s headlong rush to introduce a carbon tax in Alberta became joined at the hip with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s OK for the Kinder Morgan expansion. Give us the pipeline, she said, and we’ll have our tummy tickled at a future $50 a tonne for carbon.

Now, any Alberta premier who puts his or her future into the hands of a Liberal prime minister representing a Quebec constituency should have spent more time in the history classroom.

Indeed, Notley should be very nervous. If her selfie pal in Ottawa turns down the Trans Mountain proposal or imposes so many restrictions that it dies a lingering death regardless, then the carbon levy that’s going into effect Jan. 1 here in Wild Rose Country becomes a sick, expensive joke — all talk of how it gives us the moral high ground in getting our crude to tidewater instantly crushed underfoot.

So, in a weird game of moral snakes and ladders that only politics could bring to pass, Notley’s shaky hand has been strengthened by Trump. If the Americans think Canadian pipelines are safe and dandy, then how can we not arrive at the same conclusion?

Odd Bedfellows: the new reality show starring Rachel Notley and Donald Trump. On second thoughts, it wouldn’t fly — no one would believe the script.