聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 As I write this, the British Columbia legislature has not yet been recalled, and Christy Clark is still premier.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But in short order that is expected to change, and NDP Leader John Horgan, supported by Green Leader Andrew Weaver, will be the new premier.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The two lefties are staunch opponents of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline. While not in a political marriage of a coalition, their relationship could be more closely approximated to soon moving in together.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And as politics makes strange bedfellows, the key point of their attraction is killing the TMX pipeline, already approved by Ottawa. They seem to forget that the federal government, through the National Energy Board, has dominion over interprovincial pipelines.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Christy Clark cracked opened this Pandora鈥檚 box of provincial opposition with her five conditions 鈥� supposedly met by TMX. Now the NDP and Greens want to throw Pandora鈥檚 box wide open.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Don Braid, columnist for the Calgary Herald, stole some of my thunder in his suggestion that if B.C. truly doesn鈥檛 like pipelines, fine, shut down deliveries of oil to the Lower Mainland and interior of B.C. now. Like, right now, not at some time in the future. Let鈥檚 see how Vancouver likes walking.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I would suggest Alberta go one further. Not only should oil shipments to B.C. be shut down, but natural gas exports out of B.C. should be shut down, too.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This would mean shutting down, at the Alberta border, the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. system. It would also mean cutting off all B.C. flow in the Alliance Pipeline, which starts near Fort St. John, B.C. and runs all the way to Chicago. (I spent the better part of 16 months building Alliance in 1999-2000, along with 1,600 other guys.)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Let鈥檚 see how B.C. likes having its fuel source shut off and its energy exports kyboshed in one fell swoop.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kinda sounds like a blockade, doesn鈥檛 it? Blockades are often employed in times or war, or, are acts of war in and of themselves. I鈥檓 not talking trade wars. I鈥檓 talking shooting wars.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That鈥檚 effectively what British Columbia is proposing, a trade war focused on no pipelines. It wasn鈥檛 enough that Northern Gateway got quashed. Lotusland wants to be fueled by unicorn farts. So be it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The problem with a blockade is escalation. Weigh stations at the border start turning back trucking. Wheat can鈥檛 make it to port. Things start getting ugly. Some rednecks decide to arm themselves. A trade war could lead to violence.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 All of this is happening, by the way, as the country celebrates its 150th anniversary in a few weeks.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Curiously, Quebec chose this week to suggest it鈥檚 time to reopen the constitution. I think Alberta and Saskatchewan have a few issues that other provinces might not want to discuss. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pipeline projects taking the better part of a decade before construction even begins might be one. Cutting off equalization payments that are primarily paid by petroleum producing provinces to the rest would be another. That might get some attention.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Forever we鈥檝e heard about provincial negotiations on removing barriers to interprovincial trade. Several years ago, I attended the press conference after the signing of the New West Partnership back in 2010.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For all the talk, seven years later we鈥檝e got Alberta and B.C. going to war on pipelines. So much for removing barriers. So much for partnership.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The federal government must put its foot down. To his credit, Justin Trudeau has been speaking to that effect in recent days.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But it can鈥檛 be just talk. It has to be action. He has to use the existing constitutional prerogative to get TMX built. And he should be telling the B.C. NDP and Greens, in no uncertain terms, they cannot interfere with a federally approved project.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you detect some frustration in my writing, it may be because my fuse is short after having endured the better part of a decade of pipeline politics bovine feces. It鈥檚 time for this to end.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 B.C. had a change in government, which is the natural course of democracy. Mark Twain noted, 鈥淧oliticians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But that doesn鈥檛 mean the new leadership has free reign to counter the needs of the nation. This pipeline, and others like it, are not just about B.C. They are necessary for Canada.
Just wait until we get to Energy East.
