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Nelson: Alberta misreads the art of the deal

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So this is where you end up by ignoring the lessons of history, and instead, back style over substance.

You end up – or, more accurately, Alberta ends up – having to fight alone for the privilege of providing ever more cash to grease the wheels of the Canadian economy and thereby allow Ottawa to spend ever more billions on nebulous feel-good programming.

This fight appears to be firmly between our province and B.C., following the Lotus-Landers’ delaying tactics over the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which would deliver more crude to tidewater, thereby opening up lucrative world markets.

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But the real fight, much as it has been since 1905, rests between Alberta and the federal government.

It was Ottawa that approved the pipeline and it should be up to the prime minister and his Liberal colleagues to curtail the dreary delaying tactics of the provincial NDP and Green coalition wielding power west of us.

Don’t hold your breath. Sure, we’ll get an occasional platitude from Justin Trudeau, when he and his horde aren’t too busy trying on some sparklingly new national costume for another family selfie. But actual action? Not a chance, even though this battle between two powerful western provinces is flashing bright red warning signs.

So now our premier is talking tough and suggesting a curtailing of current oil and gas shipments to B.C might be a tactic to make John Horgan’s government realize how dependent it actually is on Alberta energy.

Oh, isn’t that lovely. Can you imagine being a Kinder Morgan head honcho down in Houston, Texas, and discovering that not only is this construction of a pipeline expansion seemingly taking forever and a day up there in Canada, but now the regular usage of the original pipeline, built back in 1953, might be in jeopardy because one group wants to teach another bunch a lesson.

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North Korea might look like a better bet for future investment.

And then there’s the state of our provincial finances. That state would be best described as a mess. So much of a mess we think only borrowing $9 billion a year is reason to celebrate.

Well, imagine how quickly that rather bizarre celebration will be curtailed if we deliberately cut off exports and subsequent royalties.

Sure, it would hurt consumers and businesses in British Columbia if they were forking over two bucks a liter at the pumps, but you should never underestimate the tenacity of people if they rally around a cause, even ones who prefer designer coffee to the double-double variety.

Horgan could drop the provincial tax on gas, negating some of the effect and then borrow to reimburse provincial coffers – it’s not as though running big deficits bothers politicians.

Sadly, we played this wrong from the start and the fault lies with our own government. When you negotiate with the federal Liberals and hand over your ace in the hole before the dealing’s done, it is political naiveté of the first order.

But that’s what Notley did by rushing to impose a carbon tax on Albertans and thus giving Trudeau a wonderful message to tell the waiting world and bask in that glory.

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History would warn us not to trust a prime minister called Trudeau, but instead, play off his own weakness — a desire to be seen as an apologetic, Earth-saving, lover of humanity in all its infinite varieties.

So imagine this could-of-been video-conferencing chat between the premier of Alberta and the prime minister of Canada on the eve of Trudeau’s trip to Paris for the big global warming bash two years ago:

“OK, Justin. Here is Alberta’s position. Once our oil is actually flowing to both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts through those new pipeline projects, then Alberta will impose a carbon tax on our residents. Fair’s fair. We won’t do one without the other. Feel free to tell the world. Let’s chat again once that happens.

“Oh, and nice socks.”

Chris Nelson is a Calgary writer.

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