Time is ripe for some anti-social licence in Alberta

Let’s ditch carbon taxes and fire up those coal generators

It looks like that social licence effort didn’t exactly do the trick here in Wild Rose Country by ensuring we Albertans would henceforth be heartily loved and duly respected by our Canadian peers.

Nope, that naive dream died on the vine. Instead, we’ve seen how the rest of Canada will merrily take our teeth and come back for the gaping gums when it comes to the energy industry headquartered in our province.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not when our premier introduced her much-vaunted carbon tax — not in an election campaign, mind you, but after the NDP was somewhat unexpectedly ensconced in power. Back then, Rachel Notley waxed lyrical about the benefits of imposing this “levy” on us rubes while shutting down our nasty coal industry, capping emissions from the oilsands and sending out environmental missionaries bearing gifts of free light bulbs and the wherewithal to screw them into our sockets. Ouch.

It began well enough — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was giggly and gung-ho at telling the world “Canada is back” and pulling its weight in the fight to slow global warming. Heck, at one point, early on in this dreary debacle, Alberta and Notley even got a shout out from Barack Obama himself.

Of course, that was after he’d repeatedly stuck a presidential fork into the Keystone XL pipeline project aimed at boosting the amount of our oil travelling through his country.

Oh, those were the days. Yet, like a prairie summer, they didn’t last. Soon, Notley got a reminder winter was a-coming, and not because she was watching Game of Thrones on Netflix.

First to put the boot into this brave new world of social licence, where we’d scratch the environmental itch and in turn have our tummies tickled in getting oil to tidewater, was Quebec.

La belle province placed so many obstacles into the path of the Energy East pipeline project aimed at taking crude to the Atlantic coast that TransCanada Corp. eventually called it quits.

Now it’s British Columbia’s turn, using the same endless delays to thwart the Trans Mountain extension project, despite construction being given a federal nod.

That’s left Trudeau twisting in the wind, so no wonder he’s merrily messing about in India, even if no one there is that keen to greet him.

Meanwhile, we’ve got the now-notorious wine ban. Glory be — whatever next? Maybe a B.C. salmon boycott? There are so many billions of dollars at stake for the province and country that such weak symbolism is akin to taking a penknife to a gunfight.

Nope, if we want to see action, it’s time to kick into gear the anti-social licence.

It goes like this. First, we’re ditching the carbon tax. Next, we’re reversing the mothballing of our coal industry that threatened the existence of so many Alberta towns and, finally, that cap on emissions — well, poof, it’s gone. David Copperfield, eat your heart out.

Oh, but that’s irresponsible. We’ll be contributing to global warming and the seas will rise and threaten coastal areas everywhere. Oh, really? Darn it, but isn’t Alberta well above 2,000 feet above sea level, even in the shallow bits?

It’ll be a while before we get our feet wet. Victoria and Vancouver, you say? Oh well, we’ll have a whip round and send them some greencoloured sandbags.

Then we’ll make direct overtures to the U.S. administration about pumping more oil south — it isn’t moving in any other direction. So what if that messes up delicate NAFTA renegotiations. The Americans still need our oil — maybe more than they need those cars made in Ontario or those jets from Quebec.

Imagine Trudeau’s face: “What’s Alberta doing ? Get me Notley, right now. I can’t have the Aga Khan hearing about this.”

Oh, she’s busy installing a coal-fired furnace. But we’re forwarding your call to the B.C. premier’s office.

Yes, indeed, the anti-social licence. When people don’t like you, it’s a wonderful card to play.