Western Standard - CORY'S RANT： Wondering if the courts will succeed in maintaining regional sovereignty

00:00:00.000 We're failing in every other attempt to stop federal incursions on provincial jurisdiction.

00:00:04.800 Maybe the courts will actually do it on our behalf, but it's an unfortunate way to go,

00:00:08.660 and to be honest, I doubt it'll happen. But all the same, Premier Jason Kenney has needed a break

00:00:13.500 lately, and yesterday he got one. The ruling by the Alberta Court of Appeals declared the

00:00:17.840 Liberals' No More Pipelines bill unconstitutional. And it's really the first major victory against

00:00:23.820 Ottawa incursions upon provincial jurisdiction in Kenney's entire tenure as Premier, though

00:00:28.500 that was much of what he campaigned on to get in in the first place.

00:00:31.880 Now, with the cutoff for voting in the UCP Leadership Review landing today, the ruling won't make

00:00:36.780 much difference in Kenney's political fate next week. But I'm sure he was relieved to at least

00:00:41.120 be able to crow about a victory for a change this week as they start chewing their fingernails

00:00:46.420 to find out how UCP members are going to vote next week. C-69, for those who aren't as familiar

00:00:52.280 with it as I've labeled it, the No More Pipelines bill, was imposed upon Canada back in 2019.

00:00:57.160 It was a bill modeled to essentially regulate any new, large, proposed energy infrastructure

00:01:02.580 projects to death. It applies to other projects such as mining and that as well, but their target

00:01:06.740 was definitely the oil and gas of the West. The Trudeau Liberals are anti-energy ideologues,

00:01:12.500 and they're cowards. I mean, at least, you know, rather than accepting their ideology and overtly 0.87

00:01:17.460 banning oil and gas projects, they craft legislation that makes it impossible to get any new ones done.

00:01:22.460 That way they can talk out of both sides of their mouths. They can claim to support Western 0.77

00:01:25.460 resource development with the smug knowledge that no projects will ever be approved under

00:01:29.660 their legislation. The bill called for considerations of social environmental issues

00:01:34.380 that may be caused downstream with the projects. Like, that's such an abstract demand. It can and

00:01:40.400 would be interpreted in ways that would be impossible to counter. It's just that sort of

00:01:44.440 demand that killed Energy East. The pipeline owner was expected to be responsible for impacts caused by

00:01:49.340 the end user of the product. Theoretically, a producer has to be held accountable for the impact of a

00:01:54.600 person filling their car with gas derived from Canadian products, even if they're on the other

00:01:59.260 side of the planet. It's ridiculous, but that's what they're sort of demanding with these things.

00:02:02.980 So the West fought C-69 with everything we had. We lobbied MPs and senators. We held rallies. We

00:02:08.720 launched petitions. There was even going to be a truck convoy, but that sort of fell apart with the

00:02:12.500 Yellow Vesters. It didn't mean a damn thing. Liberal-appointed senators towed the line, and the bill was

00:02:17.440 rammed through Parliament. With the arbitrary powers to approve or decline projects, the federal government

00:02:22.640 immediately, of course, was chilling investment in energy infrastructure across Canada, particularly

00:02:27.200 in the West. I mean, look how they use it. Just look how Gil Boal recently approved an oil project

00:02:31.520 in Newfoundland, while at the same time banning an expansion of an oil sign project in Alberta.

00:02:36.600 It's no wonder a few people are willing to invest in Western Canadian projects despite record high oil

00:02:40.800 prices. The investor never knows when the rug is going to be pulled out from under their project.

00:02:45.080 This power walks all over provincial jurisdiction and takes the ability to develop resources for export out of

00:02:51.060 the hands of the provinces unless they have federal approval. As for the judges, this is their quotes.

00:02:57.500 If upheld, the legislation would permanently alter the division of powers and forever place provincial

00:03:02.360 governments in an economic chokehold controlled by the federal government. That's what the five

00:03:07.660 justice panel wrote, the majority of them anyways, four out of five. The legislation the justices wrote

00:03:13.000 takes a wrecking ball to the constitutional rights of Alberta. Like, this is not minor language here,

00:03:17.540 guys, and Saskatchewan, and their rights to develop their own resources. And here's another quote from

00:03:22.700 them. To deprive Alberta and Saskatchewan, which together have the vast majority of oil and gas

00:03:27.400 reserves in the country, of their constitutional right to exploit these natural resources, especially

00:03:31.740 while the federal government continues to permit the import of hundreds of millions of barrels of

00:03:36.020 oil into Canada from other countries, is to reintroduce the very discrimination both provinces understood

00:03:41.800 had ended, if not 1930, and certainly by 1982. The language was pretty darn clear from the Alberta

00:03:48.840 Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, and predictably, Trudeau, abetted by his extreme environment minister,

00:03:55.180 is declaring that he'll take this to the Supreme Court. Trudeau actually took the moment to blame

00:03:59.360 Harper for the problems getting projects approved in Canada. I mean, the gall of that little man has

00:04:03.860 just no end. So, what are the odds that Alberta's challenge to C-69 will win in the federal Supreme

00:04:09.160 Court? I'd say slim to none. The court is dominated by eastern justices who were appointed by prime

00:04:14.440 ministers. If we're ever going to be hoped to be protected from unconstitutional actions of the

00:04:19.060 federal government, it would have to be with the Senate, and that's proven to be a joke. So, I mean, as with

00:04:23.840 past judicial rulings on jurisdictional issues, the Supreme Court will likely, might even acknowledge the

00:04:28.540 bill does violate the Constitution, but we should overlook that for the sake of the national interest. I doubt

00:04:33.500 we'll see investment in western resources spiking in light of our recent ruling. So, what good news

00:04:38.360 is there to be seen here? Well, seeing Trudeau pissed off is an immaterial benefit of the ruling.

00:04:43.580 He would have been thrilled had the Alberta Court put the issue to rest, and he was disappointed. So,

00:04:47.880 that's a fleeting and small benefit. The upside is that we'll see a jurisdictional issue go to the

00:04:52.720 highest court of the land, and it's going to rule in favor of the federal government. Why do I say it's

00:04:56.500 an upside? Is every time such an event happens, more western Canadians realize how broken the system is,

00:05:01.440 and how stacked it is against them. Support for western independence. It has its ebbs and flows.

00:05:06.580 Every time an event inflames the west, though, more dedicated permanent supporters of independence are

00:05:10.400 created. We aren't at a tipping point of broad support for western independence yet, but government

00:05:15.260 actions are determined to bring us all there. Not enough westerners are ready to go yet, but we'll get

00:05:20.680 there as we continue to smack our heads against the legislative wall and confederation. So, in looking at the

00:05:25.680 long game, yesterday's court ruling was a victory, as will the pending federal court ruling that will

00:05:30.300 probably shoot it down. We need these clashes to make it clear we're not going to be treated fairly

00:05:34.540 in confederation as it's currently set up. Then we'll finally start pursuing the only means we have

00:05:38.860 left to bring about positive change, and that's going to be through independence movements. So,

00:05:43.260 keep up the good work, Justin. You're moving us along the path I've wanted to for quite some time.

00:05:47.180 get on.

00:05:55.180 ,

00:06:05.420 .

Western Standard - May 12, 2022

CORY'S RANT： Wondering if the courts will succeed in maintaining regional sovereignty

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