The fact that Alberta Premier Alison Redford appeared to be having a better time than B.C.'s Christy Clark in online news photos accompanying the announcement of a "framework" agreement on heavy-oil pipelines had nothing to do with the fact that Redford and her constituents made out far better in the deal than did Clark's. But that could just as well have been the case.
The photo that was posted on several news websites after Tuesday's (Nov. 5) announcement was actually snapped when the two met this past summer in Kelowna, when the previously frosty relationship between the two appeared to thaw a bit.
Clark, whose previous statements on new pipelines made it appear she was prepared to stand up to Alberta and the Feds on the subject, hasn't yet sold the three-quarters of British Columbians who have voiced opposition to the Northern Gateway proposal down the river. After all, by herself, Clark doesn't have the authority to do that.
What she did, however, is send a strong message that a sellout may well be just around the next bend -before or after other hurdles are cleared.
It's ironic that the Clark-Redford framework deal hit the news on the same day as a new United Nations report chastising Canada for being "significantly off track" on its climate-change targets. "Canada doesn't seem to fully grasp the risk that climate change poses to it and its people," said Jennifer Morgan, one of the report's authors.
Polls have consistently shown most of us opposed to Northern Gateway, with about half also having voiced opposition to the twinning of the TransMountain route. Local First Nations may well disagree, but to this writer, the latter route is less objectionable because it wouldn't open vast new stretches of land and water to spills.
For pipeline foes, though, this is at least as much about not facilitating the rapid tar sands expansion as it is about protecting B.C.'s environment. The product is getting to market now. Do they really have to hike production by 300 per cent over the next two decades?
In the 1990s, "green" Albertans used to say their province had three economic development ministers - the real one as well as the natural resources and environment ministers. Now, it appears Alberta has two premiers. Thanks for nothing, Christy.
- David Burke
