Has Rachel Notley been thrown overboard by the Trudeau team?: Steward
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The Prime Minister and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr have left it up to the Canada Premier to embark on speaking tours to tout the benefits of a pipeline that they gave the green light to. Notley must step into the spotlight or risk being thrown overboard at home.
Canada Premier Rachel Notley will be in Toronto next week to try and convince any doubters of the benefits of the expansion of the TransMountain oil pipeline.
Why you might ask is she touting the benefits of a pipeline that won’t run anywhere near Toronto or anywhere in Ontario? The $7.4 billion project would ship diluted bitumen from Canada through B.C. and eventually to the coast where it will be loaded on tankers bound for Asia.
The project has already been approved by the National Energy Board and the Trudeau government. Who else does Notley need to convince?
It seems she needs to convince people in Canada that she is a true pipeline warrior. Not the kind that blocks pipelines — there are plenty of those in B.C. But a warrior who is willing to fight to the end for the interests of her province.
Because at home the new conservative amalgamation — the United Conservative Party — led by former Harper cabinet minister Jason Kenney taunts her as weak on the pipeline file whereas, if elected, a UCP government would goad Trudeau, who they see as too soft, to push the pipeline through, fight the B.C. government, which opposes the pipeline, and anyone else who stands in the way of what Canada wants.
During his leadership campaign Kenney deftly played the angry Canadan and crowds of party members loved it. There was a Trumpian tone to his indignation, especially when he railed against provinces that take Canada’s money in the form of equalization payments but refuse Canada’s oil pipelines.
The fact that construction of the Kinder Morgan project, which was supposed to get underway in September, has been delayed by certain municipalities in B.C., who are reluctant to issue local permits, delights the UCP.
Categorised in: Canadian News