Face of Nation :On Tuesday, six premiers including Jason Kenney sent him a letter warning that Bill C-69 in its original form, as well as Bill C-48, will damage the economy from coast to coast.
On Bill C-48, which bans the shipment of Alberta petroleum products off B.C.’s north shore, the letter said: “We would urge the government to stop pressing for the passage of this bill which will have detrimental effects on national unity and for the Canadian economy as a whole . . .
“Immediate action to refine or eliminate these bills is needed to avoid further alienating provinces and territories and their citizens and focus on uniting the country in support of Canada’s economic prosperity. ”Shockingly, Trudeau took this caution as virtually treasonous. Here’s what the PM said as he entered the Commons Wednesday: “I think it’s absolutely irresponsible for conservative premiers to be threatening our national unity if they don’t get their way.
“The fundamental job of any Canadian prime minister is to hold this country together, to gather us together and move forward in the right way,” he said. “And anybody who wants to be Prime Minister, like (Conservative Leader) Andrew Scheer, needs to condemn those attacks on national unity.”
But, but . . . what attacks?
The premiers did not threaten unity in their letter. They said exactly the opposite — that Liberal legislation, by discriminating against resource industries, is what harms the country.They urge the Liberals to accept all Senate amendments to Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, and kill C-48, the so-called Tanker Moratorium.
But to Trudeau, it’s apparently a national unity threat even to challenge federal legislation, point out its flaws and warn of negative impacts.His response bends the truth back on itself. It paints six premiers who represent more than half of Canada’s population as active dangers to Confederation.
They are Kenney, Scott Moe (Saskatchewan), Brian Pallister (Manitoba), Doug Ford (Ontario), Blaine Higgs (New Brunswick) and Bob McLeod (Northwest Territories.)
Kenney found out about Trudeau’s remarks while taking off to Montreal for a three-day trip to promote investment. He quickly started firing off airborne tweets.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has no one to blame but himself for the current strains on national unity,” Kenney said.
“He has claimed the fundamental responsibility of any Prime Minister is to bring the country together yet his actions point to the contrary.
“He’s pushing legislation widely criticized by most provinces, industry groups, prospective investors in Canada and Indigenous leaders as clear violation of provincial jurisdiction and a profound threat to (the) future of natural resource development, economic growth and prosperity in our country.
“His government’s legislative actions have caused more division in Canada than we have seen for years, and today’s comments only further inflame those tensions.”
The deeper thread here is the Trudeau government’s readiness to trample provincial powers.
These are legitimate rights enshrined in the constitution. The premiers’ letter describes them well: “Provinces and territories have clear and sole jurisdiction over the development of their non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources, and the generation and production of electricity.
“Bill C-69 upsets the balance struck by the constitutional division of powers by ignoring the exclusive provincial powers over projects relating to these resources.
“The federal government must recognize the exclusive role provinces and territories have over the management of our non-renewable natural resource development or risk creating a constitutional crisis.”
The Gang of Six “conservative premiers” obviously have their own partisan motives in all this. But the crisis would be of Trudeau’s own making.
Please ask yourself, what would he say if Quebec Premier Francois Legault sent him that letter?
Probably nothing.
