Kelly McParland: How decades of Liberal indifference created Danielle Smith

[Ron in Regina]

The Federal legislation that is Bill c69 makes the regulatory burden greater and more complicated for new resource projects. It’s been dubbed the “no more pipelines” law and challenged in both the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, both of which ruled it unconstitutional. The Alberta court called it “a constitutional Trojan Horse” and said it “tears apart the constitutional division of power.” The Supreme Court of Canada agreed.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney confirmed this week that his party will not repeal Bill C-69 if his party forms the next government.

Carney is “thumbing his nose at the Constitution,” said former Alberta premier and former federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney.

“Complying with the Constitution isn’t partisan. It’s not ideological. It’s not optional. It’s mandatory,” he posted on X.

It’s also a foolish policy for this country to pursue.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted a dire warning on X: “Make no mistake. If this law stays, there will be few, if any, large-scale energy infrastructure projects built in this country and Alberta and Saskatchewan will be cut off from international markets.

This means Canada will become more vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States.” Unless that’s the end goal?

At a press conference in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Carney emphatically stated that he would stick with the Liberals’ disastrous Impact Assessment Act (IAA), one of the main impediments to building pipelines and other infrastructure projects.

As my colleague Jamie Sarkonak detailed in these pages on Saturday, the IAA imposes such onerous requirements on developers — forcing them to study a project’s impact on everything from Indigenous language to gender equity in every community it affects — that the vast majority of them choose to simply give up rather than invest in the Canadian economy.

Jesse Kline: Trump's still messing with Canada, and Carney's not equipped — National Post

Liberal economic policies leave Canada vulnerable

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Those living in Eastern Canada should worry because, in order for oil and gas to get to them from the West, it passes through the U.S….

…so we don’t have control of our own energy supply. If we’ve learned anything over the past few months, it’s that this country has to aim for energy security and self-reliance in all aspects of our economy.

All those brave words about “Elbows Up” and “Canada Strong” are just hot air and slogans if we’re not prepared to fight for our survival with every weapon at our disposal.

Carney’s farcical “Net Zero” fantasy is just bunk. It will consign this country to third-world status at a time when our neighbour is promising to “drill, baby, drill!”

It steps on provincial toes and is harmful and divisive.

Canada is blessed with abundant resources. To hobble our economy with legislation that’s been deemed unconstitutional is an act of self-harm to the Canadian economy at a time when we need to be unleashing the full power of our potential.

EDITORIAL: Carney’s wrong on pipeline law — Toronto Sun

Liberal Leader Mark Carney confirmed this week that his party will not repeal Bill C-69 if his party forms the next government. The legislation makes the regulatory burden greater and more complicated for new resource projects. It’s been dubbed the “no more pipelines” law and challenged in both...

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[Ron in Regina]

Too many assume that the stability of the Canadian federation is strong, but it will take much less than they think for the country to shatter into several broken pieces.

If that happens, Alberta, not Quebec, will lead the way. Alberta has wealth, and enough oil and gas to generate more, many times over. The province still needs friendly borders to sell it, and the United States can deliver that if Alberta breaks away, which would be a fatal tragedy for Canada.

If the Liberals win another term in government, as the polls currently point towards, there are determined and well-funded activists who will stoke the appetite for a sovereign Alberta.

Plans are already being made by the Alberta government for a debate on the province’s place in Canada, although Danielle Smith’s UCP has ruled out leading a separatist campaign.

Should Carney remain prime minister after April 28, along with the rest of Justin Trudeau‘s former ministers, there will still be a real showdown between Ottawa and Albertans, if not their government.

Considering the economic chaos that would result from Alberta leaving Canada, the cheapest way to avoid that is giving the province what it wants.

That does not mean tens of billions in transfer payments (looking at you Quebec), it simply means Ottawa choosing to step aside and loosen the vice-like restrictions on building economic infrastructure and extracting resources.

Geoff Russ: Alberta separatists can't be ignored if Canada is to survive — National Post

Ottawa needs to get out of the way

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That would require the ideologues and failed technocrats who have delimbed this country for the past 10 years to realize their errors, and change course. They must stop treating Alberta’s oil and gas-driven economy like a terminal patient that must be slowly smothered with emissions caps and making it so difficult to build that the federal government has an effective monopoly on constructing pipelines.

That, or they may be replaced by a Conservative government, which could immediately act as a release valve for the pressure building up in Alberta.

Western alienation was a political force in the 1990s, but today, those sentiments are stronger than ever, and backed by the West’s growing political and economic power.

The chaos will begin if that propels Albertans to go it alone. With them would go the biggest net distributor of the transfer payments that glues the federation together, 15 per cent of Canada’s GDP and the country’s primary source of oil and gas, its largest and most valuable export.