Cam Westhead’s claim that the “NDP made pipelines possible” is ridiculous. He would make a good fiction writer.
Apparently, when Cam says something “definitively” and “let there be no doubt,” it must be true. In that case, Cam, why is the NDP government committing $9 million in taxpayer dollars toward carbon tax ads trying to convince the more than two-thirds of Albertans who don’t want a carbon tax?
On Nov. 29, Trudeau approved the upgrade of one existing pipeline (making it more safe and efficient) and the twinning of another to increase its capacity. While Premier Rachel Notley hypocritically signals that she supports the Kinder Morgan pipeline, meanwhile members of the NDP’s Oil Sands Advisory Group appointed by Notley, such as, Tzeporah Berman and Karen Mahon, rabid anti-oil and anti-pipeline activists appointed by Notley, rail against it.
Inflicting even more pain and hurt on Albertans, the NDP has decided to raise the top rate on its carbon tax from $30/tonne to $50/tonne, even before their carbon tax takes effect on Jan. 1. The NDP increased their job-killing carbon tax by 67 per cent in exchange for a pipeline that hasn’t even been built. What’s worse, the NDP seemingly agreed to this massive tax hike as a condition for pipeline approval (which would be tantamount to submitting to blackmail by Trudeau) or gave Notley a convenient excuse to raise the top rate.
The NDP's job-killing carbon tax had no effect on Trudeau’s decision on Northern Gateway, a new pipeline. Thus, the so-called "social licence" trumpeted by Cam Westhead is a fiction!
Ron Voss
