By Gillian Steward
Contributing Columnist
Mon., Nov. 15, 2021
It’s no coincidence that Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatchewan, announced his province is a “nation within a nation” as the oil and gas industry was being threatened yet again because of its role in the climate crisis.
In his speech ahead of a recent leadership review, Moe described Justin Trudeau’s decision to cap the oil and gas industry’s green house gas emissions as “an outright attack on the energy industry in Saskatchewan.”
The day after that Saskatchewan Party convention affirmed his leadership the “nation” talk spilled out during a radio talk show. No doubt a well-planned communications strategy.
If it all sounds familiar, that’s because it is right out of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s playbook.
What they are really seeking, other than to become just like Quebec in relation to the federal government, is the power to regulate the petroleum industry, key to both their economies, as they see fit without any interference from the federal government.
No matter whether it be a nation-wide carbon tax, which the Supreme Court ruled can be imposed by the federal government, or an emissions cap, which applies only to an oil and gas industry that accounts for 26 per cent of Canada’s green house gas emissions, Moe and Kenney will fight it and take delight in skewering Justin Trudeau at the same time.
Given that Saskatchewan and Alberta voted overwhelmingly to be represented by Conservative MPs in the recent federal election, both premiers know they will have support for any position that rejects Trudeau’s policies.
And they don’t seem to care that seeking more independence for their provinces may indeed put Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a difficult spot given that he needs to pull in more support from Central Canada if he is going to make a breakthrough in the next election.
And of course, both premiers want to distract people from their abysmal performance on the COVID-19 file. In a vain attempt to prove their provinces were distinct from the rest of the country both premiers lifted all pandemic restrictions in early July and then did very little as case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths surged.
Although his popularity among Saskatchewan residents had declined significantly by mid-October, Moe still got a vote of confidence from party members.
Kenney, on the other hand, is struggling to keep his head above water both within the United Conservative Party, of which he is the founding leader, and among voters in general who at this point, according to public opinion polls, prefer Rachel Notley’s NDP by a wide margin.
That’s because the UCP keep stumbling from one scandal to another. Two weeks ago a cabinet minister resigned after Legislature staffers described heavy drinking sessions in his office to a CBC reporter. Last week the education ministry was publicly embarrassed into taking down a document on its website that suggested students should learn about the positive aspects of Nazi Germany.
In September, Kenney did manage to head off a revolt by caucus members and UCP officials demanding a leadership review at the party’s annual meeting this coming weekend. That review is now scheduled for April, about a year before the next provincial election.
Even so, about a quarter of UCP constituency associations are still calling for Kenney’s resignation. And Brian Jean, former leader of the Wild Rose Party, is seeking a UCP nomination for a by-election in Fort McMurray by threatening to join the move to oust Kenney if he gets elected.
In the meantime, desperate to secure their dwindling voter bases, both Moe and Kenney persist in phoney wars with the federal government over climate change policy. Never mind that the fossil fuel industry will never be as robust as it once was and both premiers would be better off if they figured out how to adapt to that reality.
Even delegates to COP26 managed to finally name fossil fuels as an obstacle in the fight against climate change. But for Moe and Kenney, climate change isn’t the issue that gets them out of bed in the morning.
They are more concerned with maintaining power. And if that means fighting the federal government on behalf of the beleaguered petroleum industry, so be it.
Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward
Mon., Nov. 15, 2021
It’s no coincidence that Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatchewan, announced his province is a “nation within a nation” as the oil and gas industry was being threatened yet again because of its role in the climate crisis.
In his speech ahead of a recent leadership review, Moe described Justin Trudeau’s decision to cap the oil and gas industry’s green house gas emissions as “an outright attack on the energy industry in Saskatchewan.”
The day after that Saskatchewan Party convention affirmed his leadership the “nation” talk spilled out during a radio talk show. No doubt a well-planned communications strategy.
If it all sounds familiar, that’s because it is right out of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s playbook.
What they are really seeking, other than to become just like Quebec in relation to the federal government, is the power to regulate the petroleum industry, key to both their economies, as they see fit without any interference from the federal government.
No matter whether it be a nation-wide carbon tax, which the Supreme Court ruled can be imposed by the federal government, or an emissions cap, which applies only to an oil and gas industry that accounts for 26 per cent of Canada’s green house gas emissions, Moe and Kenney will fight it and take delight in skewering Justin Trudeau at the same time.
Given that Saskatchewan and Alberta voted overwhelmingly to be represented by Conservative MPs in the recent federal election, both premiers know they will have support for any position that rejects Trudeau’s policies.
And they don’t seem to care that seeking more independence for their provinces may indeed put Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in a difficult spot given that he needs to pull in more support from Central Canada if he is going to make a breakthrough in the next election.
And of course, both premiers want to distract people from their abysmal performance on the COVID-19 file. In a vain attempt to prove their provinces were distinct from the rest of the country both premiers lifted all pandemic restrictions in early July and then did very little as case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths surged.
Although his popularity among Saskatchewan residents had declined significantly by mid-October, Moe still got a vote of confidence from party members.
Kenney, on the other hand, is struggling to keep his head above water both within the United Conservative Party, of which he is the founding leader, and among voters in general who at this point, according to public opinion polls, prefer Rachel Notley’s NDP by a wide margin.
That’s because the UCP keep stumbling from one scandal to another. Two weeks ago a cabinet minister resigned after Legislature staffers described heavy drinking sessions in his office to a CBC reporter. Last week the education ministry was publicly embarrassed into taking down a document on its website that suggested students should learn about the positive aspects of Nazi Germany.
In September, Kenney did manage to head off a revolt by caucus members and UCP officials demanding a leadership review at the party’s annual meeting this coming weekend. That review is now scheduled for April, about a year before the next provincial election.
Even so, about a quarter of UCP constituency associations are still calling for Kenney’s resignation. And Brian Jean, former leader of the Wild Rose Party, is seeking a UCP nomination for a by-election in Fort McMurray by threatening to join the move to oust Kenney if he gets elected.
In the meantime, desperate to secure their dwindling voter bases, both Moe and Kenney persist in phoney wars with the federal government over climate change policy. Never mind that the fossil fuel industry will never be as robust as it once was and both premiers would be better off if they figured out how to adapt to that reality.
Even delegates to COP26 managed to finally name fossil fuels as an obstacle in the fight against climate change. But for Moe and Kenney, climate change isn’t the issue that gets them out of bed in the morning.
They are more concerned with maintaining power. And if that means fighting the federal government on behalf of the beleaguered petroleum industry, so be it.
Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward
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