Roundup: $1.6 Billion instead of a magic wand

Posted on by

Yesterday, the federal government announced $1.6 billion in help for the Alberta energy sector – but insisted it’s not a subsidy. $1 billion of it was in loans for exporters to invest in technologies and address working capital needs or exploring new markets; $500 million from to help smaller oil and gas businesses weather the uncertainty, $50 million from the Clean Growth Program, and $100 million in economic diversification projects. It wasn’t something like federal funding for companies to remediate orphan wells, for example. And predictably, Rachel Notley and various other Conservatives immediately dismissed this as not asking for money but wanting “the handcuffs removed,” which seems to me to be code for waving a magic wand to get pipelines built immediately, despite the fact that unless they plan to bulldoze through the Indigenous consultation process, is something the government can’t do. And Andrew Scheer? He went full drama queen with a petulant press release that accused Trudeau of trying to destroy Alberta, sounding very much like a jealous suitor wailing “He can’t love you like I will!”

More to the point, the federal government can’t just ram through the approvals for Trans Mountain, given that the last time they tried to cut corners, the Federal Court of Appeal objected and rescinded their approvals and would do so again, hence why they’re going the route of doing what the court laid out, and that takes time. There is no magic wand. Killing Bill C-69 won’t solve anything because the current system isn’t working, and while the bill is flawed and open to amendment at the Senate, Conservative senators have not consented to any committee hearings before the Senate’s slated (late) return in February (and I have heard various reasons for this, both in opposition to the bill, and because they are pushing back against the committee chair, who they accuse of doing the bidding of Senator Peter Harder). The tanker ban on BC’s north coast? That’s demanded by many of the coastal First Nations. Scrapping the carbon tax? Won’t change anything because it has nothing to do with the oil price differential and oil companies have been asking for a carbon price so that they can have predictability when it comes to climate demands. And then there’s the bogeyman about foreign funded “paid protesters” that the Conservatives blame for everything, despite the fact that they don’t control the courts or the economics of projects. That won’t stop Scheer or Jason Kenney from offering the people of Alberta another vial of snake oil, promising quick approval on pipelines that they can’t actually deliver on.

Meanwhile, amidst more lies and grievance narratives around the federal equalisation programme, Trevor Tombe drops a reality bomb about how the system works and why. Because amidst the demands for magic wands and offering snake oil, the Jason Kenneys of this country will continue to lie about how equalisation works to keep people angry in the hopes of getting electoral advantage for it. We need more people to tell the truth about the system if we’re to keep a lid on the anger and try to do something meaningful to address it rather than simply bow to grievance culture and fabrications.

Good reads:

  • While more than a third of exporters say that steel and aluminium tariffs have hurt them, Chrystia Freeland says they contradict New NAFTA rules on autos.
  • There are concerns the federal gun control legislation won’t be able to make it through the Senate before the election.
  • At the VADM Mark Norman pre-trial, a witness from DND spoke about how the department skirted ATIP requests by not using Norman’s name in documents.
  • The commander of our air force detachment in Romania as part of NATO operations wants to assure us that our CF-18s are all good for this kind of mission.
  • Health Canada has moved to restrict high-sugar high-alcohol coolers after at least one death.
  • Revealed thanks to a court challenge was more details around CSIS’ collecting information on environmental groups – but they weren’t actually investigated.
  • The new mandatory alcohol screening laws came into effect yesterday, and defence lawyers warn that they are likely unconstitutional.
  • Andrew Scheer insists he’ll win the next election, and if he only holds Trudeau to a minority, he believes the party will let him stick around.
  • Apparently Conservative MP Blaine Calkins has been spreading climate denial nonsense to schools in his region. “Carbon dioxide is just plant food!”
  • Adam Goldenberg looks at the upcoming legal difficulties when it comes to autonomous vehicles when they get involved in accidents.
  • Susan Delacourt has her year-end interview with Justin Trudeau, and relays his responses to her queries.
  • My column parses the deficit narratives of both Trudeau and Scheer, and points out where they’re both on the wrong track.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.