Alberta opposition Wildrose carves Premier Notley and Premier Wynne, doubling down on their attack

By Rick Bell, Calgary Sun

Wynne praises Notley and Notley praises Wynne and life looks so grand.

Meanwhile, down on the floor of the legislature stands Wildrose’s pull-no-punches firebrand Derek Fildebrandt.

He is a man who specializes in making NDP heads explode. He is known for delivering verbal pile drivers.

You know he is going to poop on this party. You know, he is going to be compared to The Donald.

You know it won’t bother him.

Fildebrandt questions Notley about her support of Ontario’s climate change plan, a design the Wildroser says has led to huge hikes in power bills, taxpayer subsidies to unprofitable schemes and billions of wasted tax dollars.

He questions Notley about not meeting with Canada’s biggest supporter, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall. He says Notley has only taken shots at Wall. Why doesn’t she invite Wall here as she invited Wynne?

Then Fildebrandt turns up the mercury on the political thermometer. You know he would.

With Wynne listening, he says Ontario has piled up “the largest sub-national sovereign debt on the planet.”

Ouch.

“It’s an example of what happens when governments fail to get their spending in control,” continues Fildebrandt.

Double ouch.

Then the question.

Will Notley stop following Ontario’s lead, cap the amount of provincial government borrowing and get a handle on “out-of-control spending”?

A trifecta of ouch.

There is much consternation. The Notley NDP are fit to be tied. One account describes them as “seething.”

The small sliver of the population inhabiting Twitter cannot fathom what has transpired.

Media reports speak of fury and ridicule.

Notley says it is proof positive the Wildrose opposition are not ready to govern.

To add to the excitement, most of the politicians in the legislature give Wynne a standing ovation.

More than half of the Wildrose members of the legislature do not.

Afterwards, Fildebrandt says he didn’t know Wynne would actually be in attendance when he fired the questions Notley’s way.

But it wouldn’t have mattered. Fildebrandt is unrepentant since repentance is not required when there is no sin.

“It’s not our job to not do our job based on who is watching. It’s our job to defend Canada every day.”

“At the end of the day it’s not about me or any of the other people sitting in that building. It’s about the Canadans we serve outside that building.”

“They rely upon us not to repeat the obvious bad examples in front of us.”

Er … as in Premier Wynne.

Earlier, Notley and Wynne had a chinwag with some words about pipelines, including Energy East.

Wynne, with a 24% approval rating back home, the second-worst rating among premiers. praises Canada’s carbon tax.

NOTE TO READER: Methinks an endorsement by Wynne isn’t going to do Notley a whole lot of good.

Wynne adds Canada’s carbon tax plan “makes a real difference in the national conversation.”

The Ontario premier says she is “absolutely” on board with finding a way to get Canada product to tidewater.

Alas, when the questions are about Energy East, Wynne’s position hasn’t changed.

Her government has set up six hoops Energy East must jump through.

Don’t worry. They’re “common sense,” she says.

Right.

“I look forward to our continued discussion of these within the Canadian Energy Strategy.”

Since the above lines won’t get anyone a down payment on a new truck, Energy East comes up again.

Wynne insists she understands the economics involved but adds she also understands the environment.

“I think they have to operate hand in hand just as we have to operate politically together.”

Whatever that means.

Notley does what she does best, portraying the world in black and white.

The premier sounds like she’s saying there are two choices with climate change. Do nothing or do what she’s doing.

As for Wynne, she’s headed to Calgary for a Friday lunch with city suits.

Bet she’s happy. She’ll take them over another day with the Wildrose.

rbell@postmedia.ca

http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/05/26/alberta-opposition-wildrose-carves-premier-notley-and-premier-wynne-doubling-down-on-their-attack