Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says federal party leaders who would let provinces block new pipelines are ignoring the Constitution.
Kenney made a plea for national unity during a speech to a downtown Calgary business crowd while holding a copy of Canada's supreme law.
He says Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's government did nothing to stop British Columbia's roadblocks to the stalled Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
And NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh came under fire for remarks he made during a CBC interview about how a government led by him would not impose pipelines on provinces.
Kenney says the Constitution is clear that infrastructure between provinces is under the authority of the national government, and provinces can't obstruct them.
He says Albertans are champions of the Constitution and national unity, and federal leaders should respect that vision.
"We Albertans are true federalists. We believe in a big Canada," Kenney said in his speech Tuesday to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
"We respect not just the original intent but language of the Constitution and we reject the parochial vision of federal parties who are undermining the economic union and balkanizing this country at the worst possible time."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2019.
Comments
To state that BC blocked Trans Mountain is a classic red herring, one of at least eight promulgated by the highest levels in Alberta. All BC did was calmly and without rancour or overheated rhetoric, enquire with the courts on what BC's powers actually are in terms of the law and the movement of toxic substances through its jurisdiction that pose [potential risk to its economy and complex ecosystems.
The BC Court of Appeal examined only the matter of project jurisdiction and ignored the remaining questions on a province's powers of regulation to protect its physical and economic well-being. It was a simplistic result that focused solely on federal jurisdiction and not on past precedent about BC's ownership of the coast and seabed surrounding and under all inland seas (Supreme Court of Canada, 1984), and it's role in monitoring ands cleanup of damage caused by spills into the ocean. Alberta has no right to own the coast, and no ethical right to put it at risk.
BC immediately appealed the decision to the SCC which will no doubt find it a most interesting case, specifically on its own prior rulings regarding ownership and in seeking to balance the rights of provinces with the federal power under the Constitution.
In the meantime, the courts ruled against Alberta's 'shut-off the taps' law that sought to cut off BC's existing imports of petroleum from Alberta and to damage BC's domestic economy if it continues to question or possibly hinder TMX. That law was just another act of bullying in a laundry list of offensive, condescending threats and arrogant behaviour directed at BC.
Many here in Metro Vancouver see this as an opportunity to wean ourselves off our unfortunate dependency on Alberta's oil. BC intends to do just that with a policy to plan for electric vehicles to comprise 80% of all new car sales by 2040. The great irony is that the car companies are moving much, much faster and Alberta will likely see the demand for its oil decrease inversely to the disappearance of gas tanks in new vehicles to great effect in the 2020s.
The worlds is passing Alberta by. More accurately, the world is passing over Alberta conservatives and their fossil fuel donors and policy writers.
Front and Centre The Conservatives are actively working on killing the Tans mountain Expansion, which, will hurt every pocketbook in Canada! The Conservative Premiers spent two full days making a case for trashing bill C48 and C69 which got rid of Harper Legislation designed to kill the project! Trans Mountain Expansion Project, Including 15,000 Jobs and $46.7 Billion in Tax Revenue annually! Gone, as soon as you vote in Conservatives, Our major river emptied!
Take a moment to read the post on these two bills the Conservatives are trying to kill.
This brings me to the #Weatherford Project. It is so named after the company who designed and specked it.
Weatherford is immensely designed to move 2/3rds of the flow of the Peace River to the US border. If Conservatives build, this Canadian's will pay for the build so the US can get cheap water.
The design calls for 4 large diameter pipelines and six pumping stations. Each pumping station to use the electrical power of a city! Kenny is already ramping up a generation in the oil sands.
The Conservatives are again looking after US interests, not Canada's!
Kenny was recently on TV opposite an environmental lawyer while jetting around the country. She was Trashing Tarns-Mountain expansion, and he was sitting there, nodding and smiling his approval.
The US does not want us shipping oil our west coast into Indonesia and China! If they are allowed to kill the Trans Mountain Expansion, natives will lose their investments and Canada will miss its venture into the expansion.
He has to make up for the lost revenue on the pipeline they are trying to cancel; The trans mountain expansion west. Canadians Receive A Wide Range of Benefits from the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, Including 15,000 Jobs and $46.7 Billion in Tax Revenue annually!
John Clark, what are you talking about. It doesn't make any sense, except if you want to confuse people with some kind of conspiracy theory.