When it comes to advocating for pipelines this week, Mayor Naheed Nenshi gets an A+, Premier Rachel Notley gets an A-, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gets an F.
First, I’ll tell you why I’ve given Trudeau a failing grade. The prime minister’s visit to India was a catastrophe. From the moment he set down and the media got hold of his exceptionally light itinerary, it had more the appearance of a family vacation than a formal trade mission.
While Sophie and the children are lovely, it became increasingly embarrassing as the week wore on to see the family –wearing garb more appropriate to an Indian wedding – trotted out for photo ops featuring the Namaste pose.
Initial stories speculated that Trudeau was not receiving the traditional warm welcome afforded other foreign dignitaries because of concerns he and members of his caucus had cultivated extremist pro-Khalistan Sikh factions in Canada in order to win seats in BC and Ontario constituencies.
Then, lo and behold, Khalistan sympathizer Jaspal Atwal – who was convicted after attempting to assassinate an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 – turned up at a formal reception in Mumbai at the invitation of a Liberal MP on the trip.
If the purpose of the trip was to reassure Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Trudeau government did not cavort with separatist extremists, that would be failure enough.
LISTEN: David Yager talks about pipeline safety, preventing oil spills and the future of Kinder Morgan
But Trudeau still had the chance to redeem himself when he finally did meet with Modi for talks and a joint press conference on Friday. Modi offered Trudeau a partnership that could also bring an end to the ongoing trade battle between Alberta and B.C.
Modi suggested that Canada is an energy superpower that could help India with its growing energy needs. India agreed to hold the fourth meeting of the Ministerial Energy Dialogue in Canada in 2018.
I argue that Trudeau could have taken this moment to say something about how important it is to build the Trans Mountain pipeline to further the energy security interests of our dear friends in India. Two birds with one stone, right?
Instead, he went out of his way to avoid making reference to it at all.
So, what are the three main things Trudeau wanted to draw attention to? A reannouncement of a relatively meagre investment deal from earlier in the week; collaboration on a whole bunch of things that had nothing to do with energy; and our shared values of diversity and optimism for our youth.
You’ve got to be kidding me. If there was a grade lower than F he would have gotten it.
Second, I’ll tell you why I’ve given an A- to Notley.
I know some think that B.C. NDP Premier John Horgan and his old NDP pal Rachel Notley cooked up the trade dispute over pipelines and wine just to make both look tough to their respective electorates. Others think Notley blinked and backed down on the wine ban too soon.
After talking with Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer, I think the truth is that Notley won this battle.
LISTEN: Columnist Vaughn Palmer on the Alberta- B.C. trade dispute
It sounds as though someone in the B.C. environment ministry overstepped while Horgan was out of the country and he came back to an unexpected political maelstrom that wouldn’t stop.
He first tried to justify the original assertion that his province had the right to limit the amount of diluted bitumen that could be sent to B.C. Notley didn’t back down.
He then tried to bring Alberta to the table by threatening a trade action over the wine ban through the Canada Free Trade Agreement. Notley told him to pound sand.
Finally, Horgan capitulated saying he’ll ask the court if B.C. has the power to override federal jurisdiction. Notley declared victory.
I suppose it is possible that the court will side with B.C., but I think B.C. will lose that battle.
That said, the courts have surprised me with idiotic rulings before. I’m inclined to go with an A for Notley. But the unpredictability of the courts marks her down to A-.
WATCH BELOW: Danielle Smith weighs in on the latest development in the Alberta-B.C. trade dispute
Third, I’ll explain the exemplary mark I’ve given Nenshi.
He may have gone to the Pyeongchang Olympics to scope out the event in preparation for making a decision on Calgary’s potential bid for 2026. But when he came back the only thing he seemed to want to talk about was how desperately Korea wanted our safe, clean, secure, ethical, abundant supply of heavy crude because they have a refinery that is tooled to take exactly what we want to sell.
Yes, it really is that easy to get the positive message out on Alberta oil. A+ for the mayor.
Now if only we could get him to write Trudeau’s speaking points.
Danielle Smith can be reached at danielle@770chqr.com
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