The first day of the new Cabinet, and Justin Trudeau, along with Chrystia Freeland and Jim Carr, had their first meeting as a group with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, who held up the now-former Bill C-69 as the source of much of the anger in Alberta, and his demands that it be changed. The problem here – and Nenshi acknowledged – is that the pre-existing system that Stephen Harper’s government put into place in 2012 did not work, and Nenshi could list projects being held up by it, which is all the more reason why his strident condemnation of the new assessment system is all the more baffling. Part of the problem here is that the bill – along with the now-former C-48 – have been used as scapegoats for the frustrated economic ambitions of the province. Never mind that C-48 was largely symbolic – there is no pipeline project that would head for the northwest coast of BC, nor is there going to be, and no, Northern Gateway is not going to make a comeback because the obstacles identified by the Federal Court of Appeal were almost certainly insurmountable. And C-69 is in no way a “no more pipelines” law.

I talked to a lot of environmental lawyers on both sides while C-69 was being debated, and the biggest source of unease on the proponent side was the uncertainty as to whether the legislated timelines would have the problem of issues stopping the clock – thus dragging out those timelines – much of which was alleviated when the draft regulations were released. Again, the talk about the carbon budget in the bill was clarified in the regulations, which also alleviated many of their concerns (and caused some on the environmental side ulcers). So while the government is now talking about tweaks to the regulations, that seems more than entirely appropriate for the reality of the situation, and their refusal to scrap the law is entirely rational and just.

The problem becomes fighting the narrative that has been created around this law, and the fact that it has grown into a mythological terror is what they will have to grapple with – and compounding this is the fact that this government has proven itself time and again to be utterly incompetent at communications. For as much as Catherine McKenna did some good work when she was the minister, she kept repeating the tired slogan of “the environment and the economy go together” and other nonsense talking points (and then insisting that she spoke like a regular person), which did nothing to counter the lies being promulgated by Jason Kenney, Andrew Scheer, and others, about what was actually in the legislation. And you can’t fight lies with canned talking points. I wish this government – and the communications geniuses in the PMO most especially – would get that through their heads, which is why trying to placate the anger when it’s being directed at the mythology and not the reality of this legislation is going to be an uphill battle.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau also met with Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart, who said there was openness to fighting the opioid crisis by way of safe supply.
• Trudeau will be meeting with Doug Ford today.
• Marc Garneau and Filomena Tassi are sticking to collective bargaining to resolve the CN strike, even though Quebec warns its propane supply is running short.
• Bill Blair says that the decision on Huawei’s participation in 5G is a “priority” but won’t give any timelines on it.
• CBC talks to some past deputy prime ministers about what Chrystia Freeland might expect in the role.
• For the first time since they were created, the justice minister has signed a secrecy certificate to prevent six paragraphs of CSIS information from being disclosed.
• Foreign Affairs says that there’s no credible evidence that Canadian LAVs have been used in human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, as 48 more export approvals await.
• Jane Philpott has taken an advisory role with Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Northern Ontario.
• Rona Ambrose has joined the chorus of other Conservatives calling for the party to get with the present on LGBT rights.
• The Alberta government is giving itself the power to tell doctors where they can practice – even though that practice has failed in other provinces.
• The Alberta bill that eliminates their elections commissioner passed, just before their ethics commissioner said many MLAs were in a conflict of interest voting for it.
• Jane Philpott offers some very good advice to new ministers – especially those who just won their first election.
• Susan Delacourt previews Trudeau’s meeting with Doug Ford today, and what the Ford-Freeland relationship may look like.
• Matt Gurney ponders if the Conservatives actually have any core beliefs any longer.
• Heather Scoffield wonders if Chrystia Freeland has been set up to fail with the fuzzy mandate she’s been given.

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