No kids,
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Globe and Mail reporter Campbell Clark suggests Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is being attacked on all sides, thanks to his efforts to try to please everyone, to develop Canadian energy and fight climate change at the same time.
Trudeau has the country’s only viable policy for climate change and pipelines
Campbell Clark
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thought he’d struck a middle-ground political balance on pipelines and climate policy, but it looks like the centre is getting harder to hold.
The problem for Canadians is that the centre is the only viable path.
B.C. Premier John Horgan is threatening to block the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The three main leadership candidates for Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party are promising to dump the party’s pledge to adopt a carbon tax. Jason Kenney, Leader of Alberta’s United Conservatives, pledges to kill that province’s carbon tax if he is elected – and polls suggest he probably will be.
All of that is a mounting challenge to Mr. Trudeau’s formula. He had staked out the political middle by promising Canadians they could have both things at once: He’d get resources to market, approving at least one new oil pipeline, but also act on climate change, including putting a price on carbon.
Now, he’s getting attacked from both sides – accused of failing to stop B.C.’s threats to block Trans Mountain, and from the other end of the spectrum of buckling under to the oil industry and sacrificing the environment.
…
Read more (paywalled): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trudeau-has-the-countrys-only-viable-policy-for-climate-change-and-pipelines/article37935376/
What a surprise – try to please everybody, end up pleasing nobody.
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What a surprise from the World’s biggest cuck.
aloo
Tru-duh, the air-head puppet, and Climate Barbie. Canada seems to have a fascination with dolls.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/10/26/saudi-aramco-ceo-it-will-be-decades-before-evs-shoulder-a-significant-percentage-of-the-energy-mix/comment-page-1/#comment-2647131
How about a minimum IQ for voting?
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/07/28/the-stupidest-thing-the-federal-government-does/comment-page-1/#comment-2564755
[excerpt]
As George Carlin said:
“You know how stupid the average person is, right? Well, half of them are stupider than that!”
About 30% (or more) of humanity are imbeciles who vote for raving “progressives” like Gerry Brown, who continues to Californicate the Golden State. The left is full of them.
That is the problem with democracy. I dislike programs to “Get Out the Vote”. I want more programs like this:
Skill testing question: “If your car says Dodge on the front, do you really need a horn?” If you fail the question, “Stay home – you are ‘way too stupid to vote.”
Regards, Allan 🙂
Hah! Dodge joke! Never heard that one.
Thanks Allan!
How can they expect me to answer that question if they don’t include font size? Sheeesh!
What about repeal suffrage. Men in the past knew that it would be disastrous. They were right. Now you see it. Men following the lead of women.Ends badly
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Trudeau family fortune made by JT’s grandfather who owned 30 gas stations around Montreal. True dough made off of fossil fuels.
Hey let’s call it the policy plan of Obamotrump. Divide and conquer with confusion and smiles.
My impression of Turdy — er, Trudeau – is that he can’t/won’t answer direct questions because he’s dumber than a box of bent screws. I saw a brief episode of him in the Parliament repeatedly being asked a direct question by one of the members and his response was that he’d be happy to answer any questions the member had.
That says an enormous lot on how dumb he is. He may look good in a suit – we had one of those down down here a while back – but he’s all show and no ‘go’, and he’s rude as all get out, too.
Nothing he’s done in office is irrevocable, nor is the damage these witless doodads create irreversible, but it does take time to fix the stupid things they’ve done.
The Mouse That Roared
Middle of the road, babe! It is where you get run over. Till Trudie learns that the accepted term is “mankind” and that humans are not causing climate to change people should just walk on by.
Liberals in Canada. The Liberal MPP (Ontario) for Thunder Bay- Superior North was asked a question when I was in the audience one time. He talked for almost 10 minutes and never once came close to answering the question. I was in awe, a true master politician, a JEDI POLITICIAN.
Rick Nelson:
“You can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.”
Really good comment on this topic from our own homro
vocal skeptic:
http://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-alberta-b-c-clash-just-the-latest-result-of-petrophobes-war-on-the-oilsands
That’s the link but I’ve copied the text and pasted it here – it is a good read, written by a guy who can speak extemporaneously on any subject, using complete sentences with two levels of subordinate clauses, with barbed wit as his weapon of choice against bureaucratic bafflegab. And he writes the same way
=======================================
The clash between B.C. and Alberta goes a lot deeper than the current headlines.
At least 10 or 20 years of ruthlessly organized, internationally endowed, wildly overblown scare propaganda against the Canadian oil industry, most especially as symbolized by the Fort McMurray oilsands project, has preceded it. The shielding umbrella under which the campaign has been waged, and the spurious ideological warrant behind it, has been the global warming fetish that locates the Earth’s imminent doom in the industrial economies of modern capitalism. Its foot soldiers have been a tormented assembly of every hard left groupuscule from the trendy Chavistas (Naomi Klein Inc.) to the fatuous (Bill Nye) to the grimly Calvinist Greens. At both ends they are an angry and a zealous lot, unscrupulous in their messaging and remorselessly uncompromising in their aims: shut down oil, cost to the world be damned.
Alberta, in particular, has been their toy. They have had 20 years to spread the message that Alberta’s oil, and Fort McMurray in deep particular, are both trigger and emblem of the coming catastrophe, that the hundreds of thousands who toil in the oil sands are as the orcs of Mordor moving ever closer to returning the Earth to Darkness and working Nature’s ruin.
They have had 20 years to spread the message that the hundreds of thousands who toil in the oil sands are as the orcs of Mordor moving ever closer to returning the Earth to Darkness
No other state or province, and no other single project has borne the weight of calumny and accusation as have Alberta and the oil sands. No campaigns against projects in China, India, the Middle East, the U.S. or Latin America have been of even near duration or intensity as their relentless crusade against Fort McMurray. The oil sands are as a pinprick in the world’s energy production, yet as the eco-Furies paint them, they are Armageddon’s launch pad.
When, despite protest, propaganda, misrepresentation and chronic interference, the oil sands project did move ahead, when, despite the “infinite regress” (C. Cosh) of environmental assessment and reassessment, it lurched to production, clearly novel tactics had to be summoned, the campaign reframed.
No other state or province, and no other single project has borne the weight of calumny and accusation as have Alberta and the oil sands. No campaigns against projects in China, India, the Middle East, the U.S. or Latin America have been of even near duration or intensity as their relentless crusade against Fort McMurray. The oil sands are as a pinprick in the world’s energy production, yet as the eco-Furies paint them, they are Armageddon’s launch pad.
When, despite protest, propaganda, misrepresentation and chronic interference, the oil sands project did move ahead, when, despite the “infinite regress” (C. Cosh) of environmental assessment and reassessment, it lurched to production, clearly novel tactics had to be summoned, the campaign reframed.
Delay and obstruction are activists’ favoured munitions, as seen in so many other pipelines and projects. Petronas and its $36-billion project was procrastinated into oblivion. Energy East was cancelled over ever-extended regulations. Stall, freeze, regulate, litigate, occupy and demonstrate — anything that slows progress or jams an operation — if it’s the oil sands, all’s on the table. Obama speciously dawdled for his whole two terms on Keystone. Fortunately, on that one Mr. Trump was more prompt.
The tactics change, the game remains the same — stop Alberta and its “toxic” world-ruinous oil sands. It is in this context we should view recent events, and the emergence of the Alberta-B.C. clash.
Two decades of incessant campaign and propaganda have had a cumulative effect — an abiding weight of preconception and indisposition against any fair reading of Alberta’s dilemma. It lubricates the singular and farcical association of the oil sands and the green nightmare of CO2 doom.
And it supplies the backdrop for the political maneuvering of B.C. Premier John Horgan and his Green Council of Three, the shameless demand for yet another environmental assessment — the most transparent political ploy since Dalton McGuinty in Ontario cancelled two gas plants to leverage an election vote.
It should also work to remind people that when Mr. Trudeau endlessly parrots the formula of the “balance between the environment and the economy” it is not a balance he has any personal familiarity or experience with. On how many of his incessant travels has he spoken up for Alberta’s industry, or, equally to the point, condemned the concert of environmental groups making a career out of opposition to Alberta? He has had the choice of venues and the world’s ear. How many times even within Canada? Has there even been one national address on Alberta’s plight — after the price downturn, after the inferno that ravaged Fort McMurray, after the fight of capital and companies from the oilsands? No. Contrast that with his interminable rhapsodies on carbon taxes and climate change.
And so it is that with the latest salvo from B.C., Premier Rachel Notley pushes on alone.
She may have thought she had a deal with Justin Trudeau on “social licence” but she never did — just a treacle of insincere bromides, verbal goo to serve a moment’s press, forgotten before the camera lights dimmed. Her erstwhile partner in “the balance” hovers blandly above the contest, even as a fracture in the Confederation threatens.
Oh, the Trudeau government has approved the pipeline. Mr. Trudeau has said so himself as recently as Thursday in San Francisco. How lethargic though are his iterations of that approval, passionless to the point of coma. Where’s his presence on the issue? Where’s the prime ministerial voice on its relation to the national interest? Where’s his rebuke to the grandstanding in B.C.? He’s been stronger lobbying Jeff Bezos on Amazon for Toronto than the country or the world on the oil sands.
A province that fed the national economy during rough times is having rough times itself. Return the favour, serve the national interest, and declare the time for obstruction, assessments and political theatre is over. Alberta should not have to keep selling its resource at a blinding discount because the prime minister shivers over the thought of a backlash from Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, or a frown from the one-member, one-cause party in the House of Commons.
The Trudeau government it is clear, from the mouth of its leader, and the cast of its advisers, and the character of its ministers on this file, devotes far more sympathy to those who warn of oil, fear global collapse and participate in global campaigns against it, than the opposite. They are ParisPeople more than CalgaryPeople, more Rio than Fort Mac. The IPCC will never convene in Edmonton.
homegrown
At least the Canadian libs have moved on from buying guns for the Black Panthers anarchists and listing the U.S. as its greatest international threat during Republican Presidential terms to other mind games and side shows.
That is why I am personally boycotting BC products and writing to the BC companies. Yes, a very small gesture, but mine to do.
God bless Rex Murphy! It is worth every cent, buying Saturday’s National Post just to catch his regular column …… actually, the N.P. is far and away Canada’s best newspaper, and well worth the daily subscription.
And the incredible thing is, they still let him have a comment spot on CBC television. He must have a contract and a good lawyer.
Just send more drill rigs and resource investment south of the border. They won’t know the difference if they don’t talk about it, right?
Several very capable and well-connected people have explained Canadian federal politics to me, as follows:
The Liberal Party of Canada is a front for organized crime in Eastern Canada, centered in Montreal. Liberal party leaders are often oblivious to the fact, and are selected because they are sufficiently obtuse and malleable to follow instructions.
Why would Quebec not want the Energy East pipeline to bring Western Canadian crude oil to its two large refineries in Montreal and one more near Quebec City, at a cost that is much less than the international crude that is brought by tanker up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and Montreal – at much more expensive international Brent crude prices?
Not only is Western Canadian crude much less expensive, but with a pipeline there is no risk of a tanker spill in the St. Lawrence River or along the eastern coastline of Canada. Quebec’s opposition to this pipeline does not make any sense economically or environmentally, unless there is an ulterior (and probably criminal) motive.
Young Trudeau is not the only Liberal Prime Minister who is a clueless dolt – Jean Chretien was dumb as a sack of hammers and one of the most openly corrupt Prime Ministers in Canadian history. Justin’s father Pierre was regarded by some as intelligent, but he was a doctrinaire socialist who befriended murderous dictators like Fidel Castro and implemented the imbecilic National Energy Program, which squandered billions and almost split the country – hardly genius material.
The common ground for all Liberal Prime Ministers was the creations of big, foolish government programs that enabled huge amounts of graft to be siphoned off by their favorites, with appropriate kickbacks to the Liberal Party and favoured individuals.
That’s it folks – everything you really needed to know about Liberal Party politics in Canada, but were afraid to ask.
Wow, I can hardly believe the vitriol and supposed “understanding” of Canadian politics from most posters! As a Canadian senior citizen who grew up in the US, I’ve observed the politics of both countries. As well, I’ve seen the Great Climate Scare in all its ugliness, although I initially accepted the “scientific evidence”.
Trudeau has obviously developed political skills that enabled his party to return from third party (not even official opposition) status to form a majority government. That’s the natural goal of any party leader (and somewhat similar a presidential candidate). I think Trudeau’s strongly demonstrated that he’s not a dolt but a shrewd politician. (He’s also human and capable of making bad jokes, such as the “peoplekind” remark.)
It’s been said that the Liberal Party campaigns from the left, although it’s really a centrist party, and that’s where the majority of voters are. However, by campaigning from the left, it can pick up votes that might otherwise go to the truly left party, the NDP. (The Green Party is quite left too but pretty small.) As most of us know, leftists tend to belong to the Church of AGW and oppose fossil fuels. I don’t know if Trudeau is truly a member of that church, but he sure as heck knows there are votes to be found among its members. I’m afraid the carbon tax will go ahead, but I expect that the federal government will soon put a stop to the B.C. government’s leftist obstruction of the pipeline. Trudeau may have waited longer to exert federal authority than many would like, but I suspect that’s a political game to try to minimize vote losses in British Columbia.
I think he’s tougher than those insulting Trudeau give him credit for. Patrick Brazeau certainly knows that!
David – you failed to address any of the obvious, public failings of Jean Chretien or the Trudeau’s, père et fils. The failures of Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien are writ large, so let’s talk about Justin.
Justin has yet to do anything of value for the nation – one does not have to obsess over his empty-headed talking points, one just has to examine the few actions he has taken – or failed to take:
– like ordering the $10 million settlement to Omar Khadr, who threw a grenade that killed an American soldier and blinded another.
– like failing to support the Energy East pipeline, which would have taken much cheaper Western Canadian crude oil to the two big refineries in Montreal, the refinery near Quebec City and the huge Irving refinery in St. John NB, and taken the crude there safely by pipeline, rather than arriving by tanker where spills are probable.
– pandering to every foolish “progressive” cause known to people-kind, and some that only rattle around in his empty cranium.
The man is his mother’s son – he has her looks, and her lack of brains. He has reportedly only held two part-time jobs – as drama teacher and snow-board instructor, and was not that good at either one.
Canada is failing under his “leadership” and his enslavement to the destructive nonsense of Global Warming alarmism, aka Climate Change, aka Sustainability, aka whatever the new-word-of-the-moment is this month.
I do not hate the man – I merely reflect that he is the brainless front man for the Montreal-based criminal element that is the Liberal Party of Canada. Every time the Liberals are elected, they are indifferent to the well-being of the country and implement policies that enable them to maximize graft and corruption.
Energy policy in Canada is a shambles, as destructive people with no scientific competence and imbecilic obsessions to “fight global warming” are in control of policy.
“Getting elected” may be your definition of success by a politician. Managing the country with competence is mine, and Justin Trudeau is an embarrassing disaster.
You really are a completely clueless liberal. He was elected by getting the people who generally don’t vote (pot heads) to vote. Anyone could have done that. That’s it. He is a lightweight intellectually, even less so than that gargoyle chretien.
Tredeaux is strange
He seems to be well informed on matters, but then flies off on moronic (at least to my eyes) tangents
I would hate to be him and try to get s good nights sleep without my dreams being invaded by continual dichotomy and cognitive dissonance
Some fine academic thinking, right here… concerning fossil fuels must stay buried, GHG emissions, Kinder Morgan pipeline, and oilsands CO2 pollution.
—————–
Trevor Hancock (of UVic): Alberta proclaims its right to pollute
The David Suzuki Foundation’s Blue Dot campaign aims to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in the Canadian Constitution, and last year the federal Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development urged the government to enshrine it in law.
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/trevor-hancock-alberta-proclaims-its-right-to-pollute-1.23170432
When it was a new organization with a more apparent scientific focus on environmental issues, I was a Suzuki Foundation supporter. But then it became AGW-focussed and turned into another self-righteous “green meanie” organization and lost my support. It seems that B.C. is the home of the loony left in Canada.
There’s no question that Trudeau wants to be liked, which I think is the main reason for delaying exercising federal authority on the Kinder Morgan pipeline, but he seems to be more realistic than Suzuki, et al. Only time will tell.
PM Justin Trudeau and adviser Gerald Butts were only interested in pleasing the alarmists.