As expected, Alberta鈥檚 new premier made 鈥淔ight with B.C.鈥� the first thing on his to-do list. If campaign rhetoric is anything to go by, Jason Kenney plans to battle even harder than did his predecessor.
One of Kenney鈥檚 first acts was to proclaim his province鈥檚 鈥渢urn off the taps鈥� bill, which Notley鈥檚 NDP government passed but didn鈥檛 put into effect. It gives his government the power to control the amount of gasoline, jet fuel and other oil products shipped out of the province.
Like Notley, Kenney wants to use the threat of shortages and higher gasoline prices to pressure Premier John Horgan to drop his opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Horgan, who notes that B.C. has signed off on permits for the project, says he won鈥檛 negotiate in public.
However, we know that the already-spiking prices are weighing heavily on his mind.
As Kenney put up his dukes, Horgan also wasted no time in getting into fighting form. The B.C. government launched a lawsuit arguing that the Alberta law is unconstitutional.
Now that the necessary political posturing has taken place, British Columbians, Albertans and the rest of Canada must hope that behind closed doors, the governments are talking seriously.
Anger on both sides of the border has been building, to the point that polls suggest 50 per cent of Albertans favour seceding from Canada. The opposing visions of the country鈥檚 future seem almost irreconcilable, but a prolonged war between neighbours will hurt everyone.
