And in many respects it is, but it is even longer ago than one can imagine.
Take Pipelines for instance.
In 1957 the Liberal Government under Louis St. Laurent lost to the up and coming John George Diefenbaker of the Conservatives. The issue was over a national pipeline to be built to provide gas to Ontario and Quebec from the West.
The issue was not though whether it was needed, indeed everyone agreed that it was and no one opposed its construction.
Rather, the issue was one of cost and American involvement in its construction.
How things have changed in 50 some years.
Now everyone who is anyone seems to be on the side of opposing pipeline construction: environmentalists on both sides of the border, indian bands wherever located, liberals generally and more recently, the two main parties engaged in the current BC Election (the Libs oppose oil pipelines / the NDP opposes all pipelines).
Like many have said, if CPR applied today to build their railway across Canada – as it did successfully in the 1880s, it would be turned down for environmental reasons.
What nonsense.
Today, the main thing that Canada has going for it is Oil. It is not coincidental that our only three have provinces can point to oil for their have status.
And it is no coincidence that the other 7 have-not provinces can point to the country’s oil revenues as the major source of their transfer payments from the feds.
It takes a lot of nerve for these have-nots to, day in and day out, complain about dirty oil… it is like biting the hand that feeds it. And it begs the question, if the oil is so dirty why don’t they see the money it generates in transfer payments as just as dirty? Hypocrites the lot of them.
What to do.
Well I am glad you asked.
For an answer, let’s go back to Newfoundland’s development of its Churchill Falls Electric Power Generation in the early 1970s. Since Churchill Falls is located in Labrador, the only land border they have is with Quebec so to get their power out to its customers …it has to use Le Belle Province’s power lines.
Quebec though had other ideas and demanded that Newfoundland enter into a Contract in 1969 which forced Newfoundland to Sell its power to Quebec for below market cost. Not only that, Newfoundland would be locked in to these below market prices for the term of the contract some 40 plus years. For instance, in 2009 it was estimated that the cost of 1 M.W.H. was between $40 and $60 dollars; Newfoundland received but $2.50 per from Quebec.
Mindboggling.
Newfoundland appeared to have no other choice because it could not get its power to markets outside of Quebec without Quebec’s cooperation.
But dear reader it did have an option.
Inter Provincial Power Transmission now and then falls under federal jurisdiction …not provincial.
Back in those days, the ruling Liberals simply did not have the stomach to rock the boat so to speak with Quebec. In fact, I discussed this several years back with a lawyer who told me he was directly involved in those discussions and said that in a meeting he attended, Pearson himself, said that neither he nor his government would intervene even though he knew they had the authority to do so.
Flash ahead to 2013. Now we have British Columbia blackmailing Alberta and to a lesser extent Saskatchewan. Its government and its official opposition have both said ‘no oil pipelines can cross its borders’.
So we find ourselves – Canada that is, producing more oil than we can get to market and the oil we do sell is sold at a discount.
South East Asia is begging for our fuel and we cannot deliver.
Well the law that existed in 1969 remains today – inter provincial pipelines are a federal and not a provincial matter. The Feds could push it through.
Moreover our Constitution contains the over-riding power in favour of the Feds to act for ‘peace order and good government’.
All of this is in addition to the Tories majority status which could be used, I suggest, to suspend existing environmental laws for the purpose of getting these pipelines completed.
If Harper wants to do the right thing and get re-elected with another majority, the above provides him with a blue print as to how both can be accomplished.
As I see it …
‘K.D. Galagher’
