Mulcair dismisses western premiers' comments on his oilsands
dino_bobba_renno @ Tue May 22, 2012 6:28 pm
back_blastnet back_blastnet:
Wow, where to begin, well I'll start by saying the 'inflammatory', insulting, derogatory part of your statement about Spoonfeeding... Dino, did I call you an IDIOT for your completely and utterly false statement about Mulcair never setting foot in Alberta? No I did not, I corrected the record in a respectful way. Try doing that same. If you're worried about a flame war try NOT pouring gas onto the conversation.
Being inflammatory was my entire intent when I wrote that and I did it for a reason. Mulcair’s remarks about the West elicited the same emotional response from the west as my comments elicited from you, that was the entire point I was trying to make and I would like you to clearly understand how it feels to be insulted in such a way.
Regardless of what type of discussion Mulcair was trying to start he pretty much shit the bed with the way in which he came out so strongly against the western provinces. I don’t know about you but I don’t insult my guests right before I ask them to sit down to have tea with me then scratch my head and wonder why no one wants to join me in polite conversation.
Did Mulcair give any credit to the Oil Sands for helping weather the recession? Did he mention any of the economic benefits other provinces enjoy as a result of the development in Alberta? Did he mention other contributing factors which have affected the manufacturing industry in Canada? He did he mention any of the investment dollars that those same companies he claims are using Canada as their dumping grounds have put into reclamation technology?
back_blastnet back_blastnet:
Last October I met with a scientist at UofA who is working on an extraction alternative using CO2 under pressure as the fluid, which would eliminate the need for future tailings ponds. Current water processes extract a percentage in the 90's, but still requires a lot of upgrading. Using CO2 they currently have it extracting a percentage in the 70's, but of a higher quality material which requires less upgrading. There is plenty of other exciting research going on. But we need to get these problems fixed.
I’m quite familiar with Dr. Guigard’s work, in fact she taught a soils reclamation class that I attended a few years back.
Do you know who funds her research? Syncrude, Suncor, and Imperial Oil to name a few. But I don’t recall Mr. Mulcair or you mentioning that. In fact the distinct impression that I got from him was that those companies don’t care because they’re too busy breaking the law and using Fort Mac as their dumping grounds.
back_blastnet back_blastnet:
but we should all be able to agree on the fact that Governments have a DUTY to uphold the laws of the land UNTIL they change.
No I don’t agree. There are a ton of dated laws on the books which are never enforced. “You may not pay for a fifty-cent item with only pennies”, “Citizens may not publicly remove bandages”, “Businesses must provide rails for tying up horses”, “Wooden logs may not be painted”, and “It is illegal to set fire to the wooden leg of a wooden legged man” *(that one is my favourite) just to name a few.
Which laws you’re referring to I don’t know because you didn’t give any examples. Perhaps if you were to do that I might be able to agree or disagree, but to sit there and throw out a generalist statement that the big bad conservatives are not only letting these companies break the laws but they’re going to change them so companies no longer have to follow them doesn’t wash with me.
back_blastnet back_blastnet:
On a West to East pipeline, that debate needs to happen and a business case has to be made for it. As for who pays. Well who is gonna pay for Keystone, Northern Gateway etc? Government investment and incentives can certainly help get the ball rolling, but the spinoffs and economic benefit needs to be considered first.
The companies who will pay for a pipeline that could potentially relieve eastern Canada’s dependence on imported oil are the same companies Mr. Mulcair just finished demonizing and same companies he wishes to tax, because lets be honest that’s what this about in the end isn’t it? It’s not overly constructive in my opinion for your party to come out in full force against the Keystone and Gateway and to then to turn around and say “ok we didn’t support any of your other pipelines but could please build us a pipeline out east? We promise, this one will be different”.
Also, supplying oil to the east won’t eliminate the need for access to the Asian markets. You’ve mentioned that we are selling our oil below market value, the only way to fix that is to open up new markets. The US has brought on a stream of new production and selling oil to the east will only make a minor difference in what we’re getting for our resources. It’s just not a large enough market to make a large enough difference.
back_blastnet back_blastnet:
On electoral success, I'd argue that an incredibly strong performance by NDP Leader Jack Layton and a poor performance by the Bloc played bigger roles then the weak Liberal campaign as items that got the ball rolling down the hill, but I digress.
I really don’t care why the NDP won seats, as I mentioned I only made those statements so you would get a sample of how your leader made those of us in the western provinces feel. One thing I can tell you though is that if the NDP wants to maintain its seats in the house or for that matter ever have a chance of forming a government then they need to demonstrate that they can represent the values of all Canadians and not just parts of Canada. On that point Mr. Mulcair just finished failing miserably and if you don’t believe me on that just pick up a paper.
ShepherdsDog @ Wed May 23, 2012 5:45 pm
The King wades in on Mulcair's miserable mutterings
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthan ... 51012.html
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthan ... 51712.html