Take a lesson from ... Canada's Liberal leader?
By NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN
Feb 28, 2009
Iggy's Great Canadian Oilsands Tour hit Alberta again last week.
He said soothing things like: "here in the west is where the destiny of our country's economy will be played out."
Or better still, telling the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce: "the oilsands are an integral part of the future of Canada."
That's Iggy the political guy from Toronto. Not Iggy the hockey guy from St. Albert and Calgary. And there's a lot more where that came from when Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff takes to the podium these days.
He talks about reserves in the oilsands being a "huge Alberta advantage and a huge Canadian advantage."
(I guess he hasn't heard about the Alberta PCs' $25-million rebranding yet.)
Unlike other eastern Liberals, he has a humble side.
"In the past our party has fallen prey to the temptation to run against the West," he spat - applying the triple whammy to Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chretien and Stephane Dion, who all considered Alberta-bashing part of their political DNA.
They cynically tried to portray our hydrocarbon economy as Public Enemy No. 1.
"I realize how hard it will be to regain the trust and confidence of Westerners," Ignatieff sighed - the results of the last election where the Libs were all but shut out in the west being the proof.
Whether a few stump speeches and a half-hearted apology will turn the tide is doubtful. Actions speak louder than words and the Ottawa Liberals have done or threatened enough nasty things over the years to lose the trust factor with large numbers of Albertans.
Ignatieff seemed to be doing a better job at defending the province's economic interests than even Premier Ed Stelmach at times.
Of course, talk is cheap when you're in opposition.
But Ignatieff does find himself in the enviable position of holding the hammer over Stephen Harper's minority government, which he clearly intends to use once financial and polling conditions are right.
Still, running his pre-election campaign as Canada's greatest friend of the oilsands is a role reversal that's going to take some getting used to for large numbers of Albertans.
Of course, Ignatieff has not totally lost his Liberal senses.
"We should be working immediately toward a common cap-and-trade system," he said, "with a hard cap on emissions."
It sounds like the same kind of deal Stelmach has called a "wealth transfer" to other provinces and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe has described as a cash cow for Quebec.
Once a Liberal, always a Liberal - until Ignatieff puts flesh on the bones of his idea.
"Albertans are rightly sensitive of any measure that appears to be an extraction device from politicians down east," he said.
Dion's Green Shift carbon tax grab didn't exactly win many friends.
"Clearly you want to recycle the revenue you get from cap and trade to incentivize green technology investment in Alberta," he added.
Sounds a lot like the Alberta government's cap-and-trade program where the cash goes into a technology fund.
"We will be watching to make sure they don't hurt Alberta," Ignatieff vowed about the federal Conservatives' carbon cap and trade dreams.
Because, unlike the happy face that Alberta Finance Minister Iris Evans was wearing last week when she announced her temporary deficit - until the oilsands industry hopefully comes roaring back next year - Ignatieff appears to have a much firmer grasp on things than the homegrown politicians.
He talked about oilpatch workers "worried about putting food on the table" in today's downturn, with several ongoing projects still "in the pipeline."
But what happens when they're all welded up and more big layoffs happen?
"I've got a very strong feeling," Ignatieff said, "that this thing is going to come to a shuddering halt.
"At that point in time it seems to me the federal government should be talking to the province of Alberta and the companies to keep this thing moving."
Iggy's "point in time" comes as early as 2010.
Alberta Treasury Board President Lloyd Snelgrove recently unveiled an oilsands strategy for the next 20 years. But he doesn't appear to have one for the next six months.
Ignatieff says he does.
"Today things are tough in the energy sector," the Liberal leader sighed. "And they're going to get tougher."
For a guy who only made a windshield tour of Fort McMurray last summer and lived out of the country for most of his life, he's a quick read.
He certainly appears to have a better handle on things in Alberta than Canada's automaker prime minister, Stephen Harper.
Or maybe even Ed Stelmach. Then again, Iggy's probably just another cynical Liberal politician just saying the things he wants us to hear.
Right?
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2009/03/01/8575866-sun.html
