LAKELAND - The member of parliament for Lakeland and the member of the legislative assembly for Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul are both calling recent poll data showing increased support for pipelines across the country a positive development.
A poll by Nanos found three quarters of Canadians support a pipeline from Alberta to Eastern Canada.
The telephone survey was undertaken in response to the trade dispute with the United States, which initially saw a broad 25 per cent tariff imposed on Canadian goods and a 10 per cent tariff on oil; as well as Canadian counter tariffs of $30-billion on March 4 and an additional $29.8 billion on March 13.
According to Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA Scott Cyr, the province’s stance has shifted in the ongoing trade war.
When the trade war was still a threat, “diplomacy was the way to go,” said Cyr.
“As soon as he [U.S. President Donald Trump] decided to slam that tariff into place, the rules changed. We needed to have a unified role, and the premier has unified with the other provinces. And it's not just Alberta carrying all the load. It's all of Canada doing its part, and it always should have been that way.”
Cyr said the province is seeing a new level of flexibility from the federal government when it comes to oil and gas.
“They're seeing the wisdom of putting pipelines in every direction to get to new markets,” said Cyr.
Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs said the polling results make her hopeful, because it’s the highest rate she’s seen in the last decade. Stubbs has been in parliament since 2015 and served as the Shadow Minister for Natural Resources for much of that time.
“The majority of those people in Quebec and Ontario and those areas, when they're asked directly, do you want foreign oil, or do you want Alberta oil? Over and over and over, they say Alberta oil,” said Stubbs.
She said pipelines and energy infrastructure will continue to be a top priority for the Conservatives, although she believes it wasn’t aways a priority for the ruling Liberals.
“To see a whole bunch of them [Liberals] out now, talking about, ‘Oh, we might need to revisit getting exports off the west coast.’ ‘Oh, suddenly it seems like it's a good idea to have a national cross-country pipeline so that we can be self-sufficient.’ . . . Shame on them. I don't know how any of them sleep at night,” said Stubbs.
Federal-provincial relations improve with mutual respect
In separate interviews, Stubbs and Cyr were both asked about the sometimes antagonistic relationship between the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada, and how they believe the relationship can be repaired.
In Stubbs’ view, a huge part of the problem is the federal government overstepping its jurisdiction. According to the Constitution Act, the provinces are responsible for municipalities, education and health care.
“If there's a change in government, given the damage that's been done, what you will see is a federal Conservative government that respects provincial jurisdiction, respects the authority of other governments to deliver their programs and services. And we need to have a federal government that's focused on its core priorities actually in its jurisdiction,” said Stubbs.
Federal jurisdiction includes things like foreign affairs, national defence, citizenship, Indigenous affairs, and taxation, although the provinces also have taxation powers.
“The diversity and the differences among our provinces, among our regions, is not in fact, a thing to be used as a tool to divide us as Canadians and pit us against each other . . . but that it actually embodies the strength and the resilience of Canada and Canadians,” said Stubbs.
Cyr said the province needs to feel they are a partner with the federal government.
“We've always had our hands out ready to have these discussions, and we will continue to have that. But when there's things being brought forward that clearly are attacks on our largest industry, and they're purposely meant to shut our largest industry down. How is it that we can't respond to that?” said Cyr.
