Canada’s legal deck is stacked against Alberta
If we actually taught history in our schools instead of trying to turn classrooms into social engineering modules, a lot more Albertans might finally understand what’s at stake these days.
Not that the battle about who owns our province’s abundant natural resources is anything new: it’s been going on since we became the new kid on the block back in 1905.
Central Canada has always seen the vast wealth of the West, whether in agriculture, forestry, mining or energy, as something to plunder, which has resulted in countless political battles being fought down the decades to thwart many a nefarious scheme, hatched in Ottawa.
Though these days, as we gleefully blather on about being so wonderfully woke, we’ve fallen asleep in understanding the relentless nature of this economic and political conflict. But we’d better wake up soon or all those past struggles will have been in vain.
Yet, sadly, our politicians can’t help themselves: they keep looking to the courts for our salvation.
How many more adverse rulings do they need before they understand the deck is stacked against us, that judges are interpreting laws framed in Ottawa and their inevitable resulting rulings will eventually emasculate Alberta and turn our province into the western colony that was always envisaged as its fate from the get-go.
The latest legal kick in the teeth came a week ago when the Federal Court granted B.C. a temporary injunction blocking Alberta’s turn-offthe-taps legislation.
The legislation was passed in Edmonton by the previous NDP government as a belated attempted to put some real pressure on those over in Lotusland trying to endlessly delay construction of the much-needed Trans Mountain pipeline extension.
Do it now. Turn off the taps. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, after all
Fearing a massive jump in prices at the pump if such oil supplies were indeed curtailed, B.C. went to court, claiming it was unconstitutional. Yep, that same, endless argument that Alberta’s resources are not actually our own. (Imagine if our province demanded a legal say over Quebec’s hydro output or the number of trucks being assembled in Oshawa. What do you imagine the courts would rule?)
But it worked, of course. Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond said the turn-offthe-taps legislation raised a serious issue that could hurt British Columbians.
“I find that the irreparable harm that British Columbia would suffer if the injunction is not granted far outweighs any inconvenience that the injunction might impose on Alberta,” ruled Grammond.
Oh boy. Five years of economic blight inflicted on Alberta and this fine fellow thinks it’s just an inconvenience, but an extra 50 cents a litre at the Vancouver pumps would be an outrage.
This is just par for the legal course. And with the imminent passage of even more vague federal legislation targeting any energy development, things are going to get worse as various well-funded protest groups will inevitably use the courts as a blocking mechanism. Who in heaven’s name is going to invest in the Alberta energy business with that system in place?
And yes, a few hundred thousand Albertans potentially losing their livelihoods probably does seem just a bit of an inconvenience to the rest of Canada. There’s only one way to get their attention before it is too late and it sure as heck isn’t through yet another trip before some federal judge.
Do it now. Turn off the taps. Possession is nine-tenths of the law after all and last time I looked the oil was sitting under Alberta land. Sure, the fallout will be nasty, and the legal shenanigans will hit fever pitch. But suddenly time and delay would be on Alberta’s side as pocketbooks are hit across the country.
Premier Jason Kenney has talked a good game with this war room blather, but if the extent of such a planned fight is yet another dreary trip before some judge in a few months then we might as well just wave the white flag right now.
Chris Nelson is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.