A couple of headlines this weekend made me roll my eyes, and they’re on a related subject. The first was Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe lamenting that federal-provincial legal battles are the “new normal” in Canadian intergovernmental affairs. The problem? That pretty much 99 percent of these cases are frivolous and examples of provincial governments throwing tantrums – and this is not just the various court references about the carbon price backstop, but also BC’s initial challenge to say that they have the power to regulate what goes through a federally-regulated pipeline. They’re futile bids that are the equivalent of shaking one’s fist at the clouds in order to performatively look like they’re being tough, and all it does is waste time, resources, and throw uncertainty into the business climate. If anything, being performative for populist reasons is the “new normal” and the courts are just pawns in the whole affair, which is really unfortunate.

The second headline was a Calgary professor who says that the anger in Alberta is being dismissed as “alienation” when it’s “abuse” by the federal government toward the western provinces – which is patently absurd. Most of Alberta’s problems are related to the collapse in the world price of oil (which has to do with a global supply glut), and the fact that the province has long refused to adequately diversify their economy (because oil money is so addictive). But when things like pipeline projects are being made to respect the constitutional obligations to properly consult Indigenous peoples – as opposed to simply bulldozing over their rights as what used to be the case – that’s “abuse”? Really? That the imposition of a federal carbon price that oil companies have been asking for as part of a market-based solution for the serious climate crisis this planet is facing is “abuse”? Seriously? No, it’s not abuse. The province has obligations to live up to, and scapegoating Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau for the problems stemming from the world price of oil is populist bilge, and professors who rationalize it are part of the problem.

Good reads:

• The Trudeau-led government continues to resist calls to decriminalise other drugs in the wake of the opioid crisis.
• Our ambassador in Washington is getting fed-up with the lack of a cohesive position in the US about Meng Wanzhou, and China’s retaliation against Canada.
• Statistics are showing that this government’s judicial appointments are seeing more women and more people of diverse backgrounds than ever before.
• Here’s a parsing of the legal arguments of the dissent in the Saskatchewan carbon price decision (but many legal scholars have called said arguments absurd).
• There are concerns about CBSA’s powers to search smartphones and laptops at the border after they confiscated one lawyer’s devices when he refused to comply.
• Some interesting documents were filed in court regarding the case of Henk Tepper, a potato farmer jailed in Lebanon in the Harper era.
• Senator Kim Pate, who used to head the Elizabeth Fry Societies, says the government’s solitary confinement bill will only make situations worse.
• Andrew Leslie says he won’t be commenting on the media reports that he’ll be providing a character reference in the VADM Mark Norman trial.
• Former principal secretary to the prime minister, Gerald Butts, says he’s done with politics and looking for opportunities in the private sector.

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