It was bad form and hypocritical.
When Alberta Premier Alison Redford made a speech to the 91原创 Bar Association in 91原创 on Tuesday, she took what appeared to be a swipe at B.C. Premier Christy Clark's stance over the Northern Gateway pipeline, subtly accusing Clark of putting political expediency ahead of principle.
"We need to ensure that our actions are fiscally responsible and fair, not only to this generation, but to those who follow, and this means doing what's right for the long term, and not the next election cycle," said Redford in a comment that didn't specifically mention Clark, but the wink-wink, nudge-nudge factor was impossible to miss.
The first part of the comment - "fiscally responsible and fair, not only to this generation, but those who follow" - seemed to be a reference to Redford's insistence that Clark should stop trying to rewrite Confederation by demanding a share of Alberta's oil royalty wealth as the price for approving the construction of the pipeline across B.C.
The part about "doing what's right for the long term, and not the next election cycle," was a not-so-subtle accusation that Clark is cynically using the pipeline-for-a-price tactic to boost her sagging approval ratings in advance of B.C.'s provincial election next May.
Redford's comments indeed would be a noble sentiment if they were coming from a politician who, like Clark, was on the electoral knife edge.
However, Redford is sitting comfortably with a majority government, and for Redford to accuse, no matter how gently, Clark of bowing to the pressures of the "next election cycle" is not only unfair, but, considering the political gymnastics displayed by Redford in advance of her own election last April, a tad hypocritical.
Just four days into the Alberta election campaign, for example, Redford performed an about-face on the scandal surrounding the no-meet legislative committee, where MLAs of all parties had received money for sitting on a committee that hadn't met in four years.
After initially accusing opposition members who pledged to give all the money back as grandstanding, and after saying she wouldn't ask the same of her MLAs, Redford was faced with public-opinion polls indicating she was dropping and the Wildrose Party was climbing.
She called the media together to declare "I made a mistake" and promised that all her MLAs on the committee would give back "every penny."
Redford was scrambling to find ways to boost her popularity heading to the polls.
And then there's the issue of taxes. Before the election, Redford promised a review of Alberta's fiscal framework, which seemed to include the possibility of changes to the tax system, something economists have been saying would be a good idea.
But when Redford's vague promise started to sound like code for some kind of tax hike, and when she faced daily attacks from the tax-cutting Wildrose Party, she made a categorical statement that she wouldn't be raising taxes or changing the income tax-system, at least not for the projected three-year budget cycle.
That means she has effectively boxed herself in for the next four years when it comes to raising revenue.
She has also boxed herself in when it comes to finding better ways to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
One of the best ways would be a significantly higher carbon tax, something that environment officials are contemplating, according to news reports this week. To borrow Redford's own words, reducing emissions would be "responsible and fair, not only to this generation, but to those who follow."
However, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for Redford to now introduce a higher carbon tax or any other taxes, no matter how strapped Alberta is for cash if the price of oil drops.
Next time Redford is tempted to lecture Clark about political expediency and election cycles, she should think back to her own experience of just five months ago, and cut Clark some slack.
