Roundup: Encana and illogical anger

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The big news yesterday was that oil and gas company Encana decided to decamp their headquarters and head to the US under a new name to try and attract more investors there, and Jason Kenney and his ministers freaked out. They railed that this was Trudeau’s fault – despite Encana’s CEO saying otherwise, and despite the fact that there are to be no job losses in Alberta or loss of existing investments – and Kenney upped his demands on Trudeau (including the ludicrous demand that Trudeau fire Catherine McKenna as environment minister). And while the Trudeau blaming gets increasingly shrill and incoherent, there are a few things to remember – that Encana’s stock price has hewed pretty closely to the price of oil, that it lost more value under Harper than it did Trudeau, and that even bank analysts are mystified by the move. Perhaps Kenney’s blame is misplaced – imagine that.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1189992947615289345

There have also been a number of voices making the absurd comparison that governments are quick to help companies like Bombardier and SNC-Lavalin but won’t offer it to oil companies – which ignores that the Harper government also helped those same kinds of companies, while Trudeau bought a pipeline in order to de-risk it and ensure that it gets completed, not to mention that other companies usually asking for loan guarantees and aren’t reliant on oil or commodity prices. There is a lot of false comparison going on in order to nurse this sense of grievance, because that’s what this is really all about.

Meanwhile, here is some additional context on the economic situation in Alberta and Saskatchewan that we shouldn’t overlook as part of this conversation.

Good reads:

  • In case you were worried about it, Justin Trudeau opted not to trick-or-treat with his kids while in costume.
  • Trudeau also had a conversation with the president of Mexico while the American Democrats are giving more positive signs about ratifying the New NAFTA.
  • Here’s a look back at Pierre Trudeau’s minority, and how he was able to navigate it with the help of a very good House Leader.
  • It looks like there has been progress in contract negotiations with the Parliamentary Protective Services.
  • At a luncheon in Calgary, Stephen Harper suggested that Trudeau should avoid making deals with opposition parties for support.
  • As Peter MacKay backs away from leadership speculation (again), here’s a look at his career of seeking and being chased by leadership positions.
  • Heather Scoffield meshes what the Business Council of Canada was telling its members along with what the Governor of the Bank of Canada was warning.
  • Matt Gurney looks through the polling data to conclude that a credible climate plan probably wouldn’t have helped the Conservatives shift enough votes to matter.
  • Chris Selley also suggests that perhaps the Conservative Party’s woes are bigger than Andrew Scheer, and that he should be given another opportunity.
  • Max Fawcett tries to make sense of Jason Kenney’s demand for a referendum on equalization.

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6 thoughts on “Roundup: Encana and illogical anger”

  1. “…oil and gas company Encanada decided to decamp their headquarters and head to the US…”

    Autocomplete is toying with you .

  2. He really is the male Hillary Clinton. The cons blame him for everything from world market trends to Trump’s Twitter tirades to stubbing their toes getting out of bed in the morning. But of course much of this is leftover illogical hatred of his father just like Republicans stew over the “Clinton crime family,” the “Kennedy mystique,” etc. They’re like Pavlov’s dogs foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of a “trigger word.”

    Norway studied the NEP and did pretty well, and now they’re acknowledging the reality of climate science to put together transition programs to renewables and a sustainable economy. But Alberta’s broke! Damn those fake news lying clown Normegians and let the Trudeau Libt.ards freeze in the dark!

    When Justin Trudeau is old and long retired from politics, the children and grandchildren of these Kenney/Scheer voters will still be cursing the name “Trudeau,” instead of stepping back and examining failures in their own lives or circumstances beyond their (and his) control. Remember South Pacific? “You’ve got to be carefully taught…”

    Now he can’t even enjoy a fun night out with his family because some other petty person went all Katie Hill on his private life from 20 years ago. This is why people grow cynical about politics and why people with the best of intentions avoid public service, which PMJT did for *years*.

    Why does he put himself through this crap? More so, why do other people put him through it? Put the blame where it *LIES* !

  3. Stephen Gordon’s bit should be framed and sent to every UCP member in the crazy province of Alberta. The supporters of this mean party are in lock step with the Republicans in the US who despite all evidence still support the crazy egomaniac in the White House. But, of course, no matter the facts, it’s all Trudeau’s fault.

  4. I’m not on Twitter, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask a question here that you might consider for your videos — why does the Speaker have to be selected from the current MPs?

  5. Because it in the Parliamentary rules. A Speaker must be an elected Member of Parliament. He or she is selected by a vote in the House. The Speaker does not have to be fro from the governing Party. This is usually the case but since the ruling Party loses the vote of one of its elected members, who can only vote in the event of a tie, a member of another Party could run for Speaker and be elected. It has been the custom in these cases which are rare that the Speaker casts his or her vote with the government. In Canada I believe that there has been a case of this occurring but because I haven’t done the research I will not comment further.

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