The word of the day was tantrums. It started off with Ontario premier Doug Ford throwing one at the CEO of Pfizer when he called him up to demand answers on new vaccines. It seems, however, that it didn’t last long, because when Ford put out a press release – sans staged photo of him on the call – he didn’t say what he had been told. After his bluster about firecrackers the day before, it would certainly appear that he was chastened by said CEO that he couldn’t make magic happen, but Ford had to look tough for his audience.

Via Premier @fordnation office about his phone call with @pfizer yesterday #onpoli pic.twitter.com/4vga35ijnZ

— Laura Stone (@l_stone) January 20, 2021

NEW: Pfizer Canada rep says the company listened to Premier @fordnation concerns and reiterated the delay in supplying vaccines is “short-term.” Adds Canada’s supply will continue from Belgium for the rest of the year. Did not answer my q about talking to @JustinTrudeau #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/qYjpM4QOMW

— Laura Stone (@l_stone) January 20, 2021

Shortly thereafter, Erin O’Toole put out a press release demanding that Justin Trudeau also phone up the CEO to throw a tantrum about the temporary vaccine shortage, and then hours later, when it became confirmed that President Biden rescinded the Keystone XL permit by executive order, O’Toole put out a separate release that said that Trudeau hadn’t done enough to stand up for their energy sector, as though Trudeau needs to scream, cry, threaten, and hold his breath until he turns blue. And more to the point, I find it fascinating that the Conservatives keep insisting that Trudeau is all style and no substance, and yet the one thing they keep demanding of him is more political performance art. Then again, when you look back at their legacy in government, it was far more about optics over substance, whether that was over their unconstitutional tough-on-crime measures, or the GST cut – which went against all good economic sense. Signalling to their base seemed to be what they were really all about, to the detriment of sound governance.

I find it *fascinating* that the official opposition in this country seems to think that the prime minister needs to spend more time throwing public tantrums.

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) January 20, 2021

And to top off the day of tantrums, Jason Kenney’s reaction to the Keystone XL cancellation was beyond precious, as he demanded that the federal government start imposing trade sanctions against the US for the move, which is utterly bonkers. It’s also pretty telling as to the state of delusion Kenney seems to occupy when it comes just what cards he has in his hand. Trying to start a trade war with the US would have far more devastating consequences for Canada, and Kenney should know that, but apparently the politics of throwing tantrums in public is too good to avoid. And this is the state of the discourse, apparently. I would very much like leaders who behave like adults to be in the room, but this is where we are.

Some KXL-related thoughts as I go through last minute prep for a lunch talk to CPA Edmonton. First, no one should be surprised that the permit could be revoked. Here's the text of the presidential permit issued by Trump with some important passages in bold. 1/n #AbLeg pic.twitter.com/eEbZRkwsdL

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) January 20, 2021

Third, on AB equity share, it's project equity not TC equity, and so if the project ceases to have any value, the equity share in it also has no value. The project will likely be able to recover some costs from prospective shippers, and so AB may end up recovering some $. 3/

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) January 20, 2021

Finally, on our bargaining chips, yes the US still imports a lot of barrels, including to the Gulf, but the share of imports into the Gulf and overall has been declining, and while US could make use of more Cdn heavy barrels today, demand for that is unlikely to increase. pic.twitter.com/EILANBQ5Tb

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) January 20, 2021

The import share of heavy overall has indeed been growing, but look at the overall drop in imports and the increase in exports on crude and products. Will re-do after the talk for crude alone. pic.twitter.com/hV7btmmy2h

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) January 20, 2021

Good reads:

• While President Biden rescinded the Keystone XL permit, he did say that his first call to an international leader would be to Trudeau on Friday, so yay us, I guess.
• The PBO says that changes to the fiscal stabilization programme will cost the federal government an additional $2.9 billion next year. (Alberta says they need more).
• In case you weren’t sufficiently alarmed by the pandemic, here’s a look at the B.1.1.7 variant (known as the UK variant), and how we detect it and why it’s concerning.
• James Cross, the UK trade commissioner whose kidnapping by the FLQ set of the October Crisis in 1970, passed away at age 99.
• The Star got some of the details from the three-hour meeting that led to Derek Sloan’s expulsion, and the anger inside at how O’Toole was handling it.
• The Green Party still hasn’t hired a new executive director three months after their last one left under a cloud of controversy.
• Kevin Carmichael parses the Bank of Canada’s Monetary Policy Report, on where they see the economic recovery going in the short and medium term.

Odds and ends:

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