May 2020
Once upon a time, I used to enjoy reading Rex Murphy and his articles which to a certain extent I thought were well-measured pieces. I can’t say that anymore.
Look at this piece:
The reason Alberta is in such a pickle does not lie with the rest of Canada but with them and the conservative governments both federal and provincial which have loaded the entire economy into the basket called “oil” and more recently bitumen (ethical oil? Or as Kenney calls it now “democratic oil”).
I have said this before and I at least think it worth repeating. Peter Lougheed saw the writing on the wall way back and created the Alberta Heritage Fund to provide for a day when “oil” and “bitumen” would not be the primary source of income for Alberta. Following his retiring, conservative morons depleted this fund instead of using it to find other ways for Alberta to grow. If you do not believe me then just look at little Norway with a budget surplus of over $1 trillion. Did their output exceed that of Alberta – do not know but the way they handled their heritage fund shows a remarkably different result.
Yes, back in the 70s and 80s I worked in the Albertan oil patch in the transportation field – ie a truck driver for a company which catered largely to the Alberta oil patch and BC lumber – and even back then after visiting the Alberta tar sands far too many times I could tell that such a development would eventually come to an end.
It was also abundantly clear to me even back then that Alberta had a huge problem which would need cooperation to fix. They are landlocked. In order to export to anywhere their product had to travel through neighbouring provinces or territories or directly to the USA via Montana. This requires goodwill and co-operation neither of which have been Alberta’s strong suite for decades now, and indeed Kenney has been known to muse about Alberta leaving Canada; really? That would leave him only one exit to his only market for that dirty bitumen – through Montana. By the same token the condensate required to move the bitumen through pipelines would have to come from Montana; standby for the price of that.!
Drew Anderson · CBC News · Posted: Oct 10, 2019 12:13 PM MT | Last Updated: October 10, 2019
He (Kenney) admits it will be a challenge to work with the Trudeau Liberals, particularly if the party leads a coalition backstopped by the NDP.
“We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that, we think that will create enormous tension in the federation,” said Kenney, adding he hopes to find common ground with whoever wins power on Oct. 21.
Open threats to BC along with passing a provincial law that permits the shipping of oil to BC to cease regardless of the harm it might cause does not create goodwill in this direction, and anyway we have enough problems of our own here with the various pipelines coming our way if we want them or not.
From your piece:
“Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet wishes to separate from Canada; and May wants to separate from reality.”
Really? I was under the impression that Blanchet’s objective was to look after Quebec’s interest within the framework of Canada so I have to assume that you know better than I about his separatist aspirations and how much that would benefit Quebec.
As for Ms. May being separated from reality well look in the mirror Rex and see how far you have come.
Hey Rex, how about being real again instead of showing your biases?
Perhaps with your expertise you could find out where these mythical refineries are that will buy that Albertan bitumen – I mean the ones outside the USA. I have asked almost everyone from Trudeau, Freeland, Notley, Scheer, Kenney and many more who have been involved in promoting this lie about exporting to other countries. Naturally no response from any of them. Think you can do better with your connections Rex?
Also Rex, NAFTA article 605 clearly states that we can increase the “percentage of our production” exported to the USA but we cannot reduce that percentage. Notley claimed that 100% of Alberta’s bitumen went to the USA, so maybe you with your resources can tell me how we get around that article to be able to export even one barrel to those mythical refineries. By the way, I have tried without success to find in this new robbery treaty – USMCA or whatever you want to call it – where this Article 605 is repealed or even changed and frankly I cannot see the current person in charge down there agreeing to anything which would disadvantage America.
Sure could use your abilities to answer these questions.
Happy days Rex and good health to you.
Jeremy
Jeremy Arney's Blog 