Can Trudeau Make a Future with Alberta?

Life is full of little surprises. Often pleasant ones. I encountered such a surprise this week reading the Calgary Herald, not a paper usually on my wave length. And yet here was this op-ed saying some of the most sensible things about Alberta's aversion to anything Trudeau I've heard to date. True, it wasn't written by a Herald staffer but rather by Lisa Young, a professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. Still, there it was.

Trudeau could, Dr. Young said, "follow in his father’s footsteps and give the region a figurative middle finger" or, alternatively, he could "make the accommodation of Alberta and the transformation of its economy a central focus of his government."

Wow! Here I was reading, in the Calgary Herald of all places, support not for Alberta revving up for more bitumen production but for transforming the Alberta economy—the approach that has seemed obvious to me but which I thought would not dare be expressed in this province above more than a whisper.

And this indeed is where Trudeau could provide great assistance to Alberta (and Saskatchewan), exactly where it is lacking now—leadership in transforming the economy off carbon dependence. Dr. Young went on to say that "Trudeau must also present a convincing vision for an alternative future," and pointed out that Alberta has rich potential outside of bitumen.

She emphasized that presenting that vision will be challenging. And indeed it will. The first challenge to overcome will be his name. Trudeau is despised by many Albertans for no other reason than he is Pierre's son, he of the infamous National Energy Program. But beyond that he has to deal with two premiers that have little to offer in the way of  climate change programs. Alberta had a half-decent one but the new government has trashed it and offered little as a replacement. Furthermore, the UCP are digging the province deeper into the hole of bitumen dependence while going to war against critics of their policies.

Meanwhile the attitude toward Ottawa is toxic. In a televised pre-budget address, Premier Kenney blamed the Liberal government for Alberta's troubles saying it had "actively campaigned against our province's vital economic interests." Saskatchewan's Premier Moe responded to the federal election with a letter demanding among other things cancellation of the federal carbon tax, rather like asking the feds to fight global warming with one hand tied behind their backs. As to separation from Canada, the two premiers know it would be folly for their provinces yet exploit it to gain leverage.

Provinces producing the major cause of the greatest threat to humanity ought to have powerful programs to deal with that threat. They don't. And they seem much more interested in demanding than giving. Facing intransigence with no quid pro quo on offer, the prime minister has his work cut out for him. All he can do is offer to help them shift their provinces in the right direction and hope they have the vision to imagine a future outside of fossil fuels.