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Holy fuck. $108.9 to $126.9 in Prince Rupert....

   

Well... we all DO kinda hate Toronto...

   

Hmm, suddenly this thread seems a lot more relevant.

Seriously though, you know it’s bad when a Trudeau has to come in and take Alberta’s side (or at least appear to). It’s a bit of a cynical move on his part. Be seen as supporting Notley and the oilsands in an attempt to keep big bad Jason Kenney out of the premier’s office. He risks losing a few votes in BC, but once he gets the nerve to force ranked ballot down our throats, he won’t need them anyway.

Justin’s overtures towards Alberta will fade away over time, because the exclusion of Western Canada (especially the prairie provinces) is fundamental to and indivisible from the Laurentian worldview. Justin will never be as blunt or as obvious in his disdain for Alberta and the prairies as his father was, but deep down, under the cowboy outfit he wears to Stampedes, he’s still that guy from the 2010 Les Francs-tireurs interview.

   

The ironic part is that Stephen Harper said "The West Wants IN." Being the control guy that he was, when he actually got in, he immediately centralized power to the PMO in Ottawa. All the decisions that used to be made in the west were now made in Ottawa. He actually did more to centralize power in the East than any other PM before him.

   

The federal government is playing this pretty well. I’m wondering if Trudeau’s (sorry, Butts’) plan isn’t to let B.C. continue to block pipelines while giving measured support to Alberta, culminating in a conversation something like this.

NOTLEY: Justin, you have to do something. BC’s being completely unreasonable, and you know it.

TRUDEAU: Sorry Rachel. If you were a Liberal, I might be able to do more. But I can’t help you. I can’t be seen coming to the rescue of a province that my base hates.

NOTLEY: I’ll do anything. You don’t want Jason Kenney becoming premier, do you?

TRUDEAU: Okay, okay. I have an idea. What if you were to cede control of your oil industry to the federal government, who would then force B.C. to accept pipelines. You’d be able to get your product to market, and still get at least some of the revenue. You might even be able to continue not having a sales tax, although I really think you should have one.

NOTLEY: Umm, that won’t play well here. Albertans would say that sounds too much like the NEP.

TRUDEAU: Well then, sorry I can’t help you with your landlocked oil. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a conference call with George Soros. I need to get my instructions for this week. *

NOTLEY: Justin, wait up!

* Just kidding. I’m not one of *those* people.

All kidding aside, what would cement Justin’s place in the hearts of the Laurentian elites more than bringing back the NEP, and with the support of the Alberta government on top of it? It would cost him votes in BC, but he doesn’t need them. Central Canada’s house slaves (BCers) may consider themselves superior to the field slaves (those on the prairies), but to the Laurentian elites, they’re all just slaves.

   

On the other hand, Trudeau is backing Kinder Morgan at a significant political cost to himself and the Liberals.

   

He’s playing a longer game than the B.C. government is. He’s “fighting” just hard enough to convince the average Canadian that he’s not his father when it comes to Alberta. Imagine if the oil were in Quebec and it’s export were somehow being blocked by another province (that wasn’t Ontario). In fact, imagine how different Canadian politIcs of the past 50 years or so would have been if Quebec had the oil and Bombardier had been headquartered in Calgary. Make no mistake. This is one “fight” Justin Trudeau has no intention of winning.

   

Everyone but Toronto hates Toronto. Fuck Toronto.

   

What's wrong with Toronto?

   

It's the worst city on the planet.

   

Justin’s “passive support” strategy only works if BC voters catch on that he’s only making token pro-pipeline noises to not look like he’s acting on an old family grudge. His end goal is clearly the economic de-toothing of Alberta, a “if we can’t have your oil wealth then we’ll make sure you can’t either” scorched earth policy directed at the most “troublesome” of the prairie coloni...uh, provinces. Justin doesn’t need Alberta oil revenue because he and Butts literally believe that you can generate a successful economy purely on government spending and boutique industries like green energy and, uh, sticky green.

   

Why are so many people in Virginia, anti-West Virginia?
Why are so many Albertans, anti-Saskatchewan?
When I was a child in Winnipeg in the early 1970s, why did I hear so many Newfie jokes?

   

You obviously don't like Trudeau. Actually, I believe him. He cancelled Northern Gateway because he wanted to support aboriginal people. The proposed line would go through aboriginal land that was never ceded to the Crown. Aboriginal voters are part of the Liberal base, so he has to support them. However, some aboriginal groups wanted the money, so he pissed them off anyway. But he had to, or all aboriginals would be against him. But he supports the Trans-Mountain expansion because that pipeline is on land that already has a pipeline, and the oil terminal is in a highly industrialized area so it doesn't risk contaminating pristine coastline. And the existing pipeline has never had a leak or spill, so proven safe.

Also realize we currently have 3 pipelines to tidewater: Trans-Mountain, the old Keystone pipeline, and Line 9 together with it's extension from Montreal to Portland Maine. I don't remember the name of the extension. That extension is rated for Middle East oil, not dilbit, but you can transport either natural crude or synthetic crude to an ocean tanker right now. The Energy East project was started when US President Obama denied Keystone XL. When Trump approved Keystone XL, there was no longer a need for Energy East. The company building it said there isn't enough Alberta oil to fill all these pipes. Remember, the 2 new pipes under construction are much bigger than any of the 3 existing ones.

Justin is following is father's strategy of trying to be all things to all people. He thought his public hearing process would diffuse protesters. That this was a way to proceed with projects that protesters oppose. I thought that was naive, protesters want what they want, they aren't going to be persuaded or silenced by a long-winded bureaucratic process. He just wasted time and money. Furthermore, he thought a carbon tax would "buy" a "social license" for oil production. Again, trying to be all things to all people. Not gonna to happen.

Now Justin is supporting Trans-Mountain, but is doing so in a weak manner because he thought the BC coast was part of his political base. He thought he won their support buy legalizing marijuana. But again, separate issues, one does not buy support for the other. And Justin also wanted support from police, so his excuse for legalizing marijuana was to take money and control away from organized crime. Law enforcement agencies have been told for generations that marijuana is bad, so they have difficulty reversing that view. And civil servants always want ever more tax dollars, so if this is to be legalized, it has to be taxed. That means you can't just grow it in your own back yard. That has pissed off BC coast voters that he thought he had won.

He has attempted to quell regional disputes by "buying" support for one issue with another. It's all blowing up in his face. He went on a tour because he's very good at standing in front of a crowd. He tried to quell disagreements, get everybody to just get along.

Obviously I didn't think that approach would work. But he is Prime Minister, I'm not. Some members of the Liberal Party don't like it when I have actual opinions. Many members of the party believe that having an opinion, being able to rationally think, is a key characteristic of the Liberal party. However, I have encountered individuals who accuse me of being arrogant if I disagree with anything Justin or Bill Morneau say. Uh...what?

But just because I disagree on some issues, doesn't mean I'll agree with a partisan who claims he's anti-Alberta.

   

Why are so many Albertans anti-Canadian?

   

It’s part narcissism of small differences, part crab-in-the-bucket mentality. No one wants to live in the bottom tier of Canadian regions. We all know Quebec and urban Southern Ontario occupy the top tier. The prairie and Maritime provinces fight over their relative position in the pecking order, and BC considers itself a tier in it own right, just below the top one and well above the others. Once North American free trade and other globalalizing forces started killing off the old Laurentian mercantilism of the National Policy era (where the lower tier provinces were nothing more than providers of cheap resources and captive markets for expensive products), the lower tier provinces, led by Alberta, started getting “ideas above their station”. Preventing this flattening of the federal hierarchy was exactly what the NEP was about. Ironically, that particular policy helped bring about the very thing the Laurentian elites were trying to prevent.

   

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