CORY'S RANT： Wondering if the courts will succeed in maintaining regional sovereignty
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
196.2919
Summary
The Alberta Court of Appeal has struck down the Trudeau government's No More Pipelines Bill, making it illegal to build new oil and gas pipelines in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's a victory for the West, and a setback for the Trudeau Liberals.
Transcript
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
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
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.