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Steven Guilbeault’s colonialist plan for Alberta’s power grid is a desecration of Canada’s Structure.
No wise or humble politician would suggest such offensive and unlawful overreach. However Guilbeault and his boss Justin Trudeau are marked by ambition equal elements grandiose and blind.
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They might be smart to just accept the affordable compromises supplied by Alberta. As a substitute they’re doubling down, appearing in plain violation of hard-won provincial rights received by Peter Lougheed for this and different Canadian provinces.
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A panel of consultants at Coverage Choices journal in 2012 voted Lougheed the best Canadian premier of the previous 40 years for a purpose, as a result of Lougheed noticed Confederation as a win-win. The nation was not to be Ontario/Quebec dominating all different areas, however a spot the place all had rights and will thrive.
Lougheed persuaded different Canadians of the proposition {that a} sturdy Western Canada makes for a stronger Canada. He bargained arduous to win new constitutional rights for the provinces, all of it meant to safe Alberta’s potential to manipulate itself. On this method, Alberta would prosper and share its prosperity with the remainder of Canada.
That is precisely what has occurred, with web transfers from Alberta to the remainder of Canada of greater than $600 billion within the final seven many years.
Amongst his many victories, Lougheed fought for and received a brand new clause within the Structure, Part 92A, in 1982. It spells out unique provincial rights in the case of pure assets. “In every province, the legislature could solely make legal guidelines in relation to exploration for non-renewable pure assets within the province; improvement, conservation and administration of non-renewable pure assets and forestry assets within the province, together with legal guidelines in relation to the speed of major manufacturing therefrom; and improvement, conservation and administration of web sites and amenities within the province for the technology and manufacturing {of electrical} power.”
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Ottawa has no authorized proper to place a chokehold on how Alberta manages its electrical grid, however that’s precisely what Guilbeault is doing along with his plan to drive a net-zero grid on Alberta and different provinces by 2035.
He desires to spell out the principles, the Structure be damned. He desires issues his method, to hell with the social contract cast by Lougheed that has enriched us all.
And but, for all that, few Canadians are simply now complaining about Guilbeault’s transfer, save for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and an assortment of conservative voices throughout Canada.
If Alberta goes to beat again Guilbeault’s assault on the Structure, I reckon we first want to completely perceive our rights and imagine they’re value combating for.
The province can begin by focusing its present nationwide promoting marketing campaign on the illegality of Guilbeault’s plan. Most Canadians received’t prefer to be seen backing a plan that’s so clearly illegal and colonialist.
This received’t be a straightforward marketing campaign. It’s troublesome to maneuver public opinion, and particularly to get of us centered on constitutional points.
It’s not like everybody else’s electrical grid is underneath risk by Guilbeault. Most provincial grids aren’t powered by pure gasoline, however primarily by nuclear and hydro, so most different Canadians received’t face the identical difficulty with brutal prices and lethal blackouts as Alberta will.
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That mentioned, Alberta does have one great tool, the Alberta Sovereignty Inside a United Canada Act.
In fact, many within the Laurentian elite attempt to paint Smith as a wingnut and the sovereignty act as pure foolishness. They aren’t disposed to giving Alberta any type of honest listening to, which ought to come as no shock. As one other sturdy Alberta chief, Preston Manning, famous within the 2018 ebook, Second of Reality: Eager about Alberta’s Future, “I feel Westerners want to know that for some folks whose historical past begins nicely earlier than 1867, we (in Western Canada) are upstarts. Our assets had been solely given to us out of their largesse, and we needs to be grateful. These older Canadians who got here earlier than us have a colonial mindset. It’s this angle that dominates the Laurentian elite’s considering in the case of ‘their’ former territories.”
It’s true that the sovereignty act doesn’t give any particular new authorized energy or constitutional rights to Alberta, however that’s not its objective. Its objective is to focus Albertans and Canadians on the suitable difficulty, the principle difficulty, the blatant illegality of Ottawa’s colonialist intrusion into provincial rights.
The sovereignty act is Alberta’s cattle prod. It units off of us who fail to respect Alberta’s constitutional rights and who’re lifeless set on a photo voltaic and wind grid, irrespective of how ugly the worth or how unreliable the system. If it takes a constitutional disaster to vary their considering, so be it.
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