A Wasted Warning

Jason Kenney delivers a warning to Ottawa. It had better be heard

You can be sure that Kenney is not threatening senators when he says his province is restive; he is urging them to understand that Alberta has had enough.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week. Handshakes and pleasantries were exchanged, as per custom. But Kenney, freshly sworn in after a decisive victory last month, left no doubt that he’d come to Ottawa to send a message. We hope it was heard.

When he wasn’t meeting with Trudeau, Kenney was testifying before the Senate. Senators have been considering Bill C-69, a dramatic overhaul of the rules and regulations concerning energy projects in Canada. Critics warn that the bill would make an already bad investment climate even worse, not only by injecting loads more regulatory uncertainty into project approvals, but by kicking off years of litigation and political battles over the bill’s implementation. Kenney did not mince words when warning senators how negatively the bill is perceived in Alberta.

“This is not just a slight against the people of Alberta,” Kenney said on Thursday. “This is the culmination of a full-frontal attack on our economic prosperity. I plead with you, as federalists, to understand the national unity implications of this.”

Kenney has always been a straight-shooter, but this was particularly blunt. There is no room to doubt the commitment to Canada of someone who has spent such a long career dedicated to serving the public in government. You can be sure that Kenney is not threatening senators when he says his province is restive; he is urging them, as clearly as he can — pleading, in his own apt phrasing — to understand that Alberta has had enough and that our unity is now at stake.

To her credit, Alberta’s former premier Rachel Notley, although a rather late convert to the cause of Alberta energy, had tried to send a similar warning. But Kenney, by virtue of both his powerful mandate and long experience in Ottawa, is the more effective messenger. Notley was clearly headed to electoral defeat, did not have her party fully behind her and got virtually no help from NDP leaders elsewhere. None of this is true of Kenney.

Kenney is already getting attention, if not yet results. John Horgan, the premier of British Columbia, has said his government is prepared to fight any attempt by Alberta to turn off the fuel taps to B.C. in face of continued efforts by Horgan’s government to impede Alberta’s oil exports. Kenney has already passed the necessary legislation, but has said he’ll delay using it, in hopes of reaching a more amicable solution.

All Canadians should hope for that. But the important thing is that Alberta’s entirely fair concerns are addressed, immediately. Kenney has made the Senate and B.C. hear that message. It’s a start, at least.

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