Inconvenient truth: the Elephant in the room
Andrew Scheer and Jason Kenney continue to Gaslight Albertans and other Canadians that PM Justin Trudeau is responsible for the Oil and Gas industry's downturn and the reason why investment is fleeing the oilsands. Both are stuck in Jurassic Park refusing to acknowledge a future hurtling towards them at breakneck speed: tectonic structural changes in the oil industry means most jobs are never coming back even if oil prices rise.
Is Canadian Media exacerbating national division because it's lucrative? Postmedia almost fulfilled their goals to elect Andrew Scheer - like the U.S. media did when they helped to elect Trump - and often portrayed Alberta as a rising hotbed of separatist angst when the #Wexit noise really comes from a minority of discontented Conservatives having a temper tantrum. Prime example of Gaslighting: "This idea of Alberta as this poor, woe begotten, economic basket-case is a myth, one that opposition politicians here like to trade on. But it's a fairy tale."
Ok, Alberta. Lets talk. We’ll start and then we hope you can help Canadians outside of your beautiful province understand why you are so frustrated because a lot of us can’t see it and don’t understand the angst you are experiencing.
As Alberta's debt and deficit is manageable without cuts if Alberta implements a PST, following the Mackinnon report recommendations without looking at increasing potential revenues would undercut Jason Kenney's claim of being a fiscally responsible Premier. Neither pixie dust nor magic wands are needed to inform Albertans that the Mackinnon report is a political document with an incomplete mandate of looking at Alberta's expenditures and not the potential revenues available to the lowest taxed and wealthiest Province in Canada.
Professor Leach's polite way of telling Albertans that CONservatives are Gaslighting them: "They're selling you a bill of goods."
The carbon tax is a resounding success despite complaints to the contrary by Jason Kenney and the UCP in Alberta. Like BC which has had a carbon tax since 2007, Alberta leads the Country in Growth. California with a Cap-and-Trade emissions program leads the U.S. in growth. Coincidence? We don't think so.
The toxic polarization we are seeing with Conservatives today was introduced by Stephen Harper, a Republican ideologue. He governed for his base only. Remind you of someone? Our Charter was the only thing that stood in the way of an Autocratic ruler who would have subverted our Democracy to his whims.
Andrew Scheer is the leader of the Opposition in Canada, yet he finds the time to mislead his base almost every day. He has an unhealthy and seemingly pathological obsession with blaming PM Justin Trudeau (PMJT) for everything under the sun. As such, we started several blog posts dedicated entirely to Scheer’s #AlternativeFacts, obfuscations, misrepresentations, deflections and/or straight-up lies.
According to Albertans the sky is falling as Bill C-48, is unfair because it prevents Oilsands Bitumen from going to market, and it's hypocritical because Quebec doesn't ban tankers. It's a Supertanker ban for Hecate Strait and the Douglas Channel. It does not stop smaller oil tankers from carrying sweet crude. My tweet thread below explains why there is no double standard and why the ban is warranted, especially given it's been informal policy for over 20 yrs.
In the 1970s, Alberta was hit by a modern-day gold rush. Oil prices soared and adventurers flooded into the province in a frenzied hunt to strike it rich. But the frenzied greed of the Alberta oil boom would take its toll. By the early 1980s, too rapid expansion and a world-wide economic recession hit the industry hard.
If a Billion-$ industry can be easily blockaded by the chump change of NGOs, perhaps oil and pipeline companies which can outspend them 100-1 need new CEOs?
"Alberta isn’t a victim of unfair treatment. Rather, much of what is lamented today is a side effect of Alberta’s economic strength. Especially when it comes to equalization. No tweak to a program meant to transfer funds to lower income provinces should ever transfer to the richest."
Stephen Harper's arrogance sealed the fate of Northern gateway pipeline, not the Liberals. CBC needs to challenge all Conservatives who lie that PM Trudeau killed Gateway & that Prem Notley gave her blessing. The court overturned it! Flaws were many. Opposition was insurmountable: the late Premier Prentice knew NG wouldn't proceed at Kitimat
The Elephant in the room: inconvenient truths. Ideologues rarely consult experts. They rely on opinions that reinforce their confirmation bias that carbon taxes don't work.
Lie Tracker 