Pipeline palooza
Finally, after decades of fighting against the Liberal’s punishing anti-Alberta agenda to build pipelines eastward, Conservatives have finally found a way to make it their idea. It’s been almost half a century since the words “National Energy Program” were first uttered— and just seven years since Justin Trudeau and the Alberta NDP received final approval for their work to get the TransMountain expansion going (a “win” that went unrecognized by the UCP under Jason Kenney). And now, under the “strong conservative woman” leadership of Danielle Smith, government is firmly in the pipeline-building business.
In a weird twist of fate, it seems only Liberal governments can manage to build a pipeline under Liberal rules.
With Ontario Premier Doug Ford nearby, Danielle Smith announced their provincial governments are looking into a partnership to build a pipeline called the Northern Shield. It also took almost half a century for the Alberta government to recognize that U.S.-owned oil companies, their investors, and their governments never had Alberta’s, let alone Canada’s, best interests in mind while they were decrying “nationalized” projects. Insert shocked Deadpool GIF here.
If you look at it that way, I suppose we deserve the Hollywood trope that Canadians are nicer than they are smart— though I’m really not sure which accent they’re affecting when they deign to include us. After all, to their way of thinking, we mostly willingly pay taxes and expect government to provide services. Maybe we just need to stop making government seem like an overpaid contractor and more like “the help” to really understand their role; we pay them to do the things we don’t want to.
“Independence” is a great word but it also comes with a lot of responsibility. Paying people who can do the work we don’t want to is a privilege and we should treat it as such. And I digress.
It wasn’t so much an “announcement” as a reiteration of the feasibility study Premier Ford’s government began in October 2025, when Canadians who once thought the grass might be greener on the other side of our once proudly undefended border realized that we gave away control of our own energy security to “own the Libs”. Conservative governments are all about letting capitalism run over them and back up to hit them again until they can no longer deny they’re covered in tire marks.
Pierre Poilievre deserved this
“It’s fine to be Glen Campbell. No one would have even said anything about his outfit if he wasn’t all ‘warrior culture’ while dressed like Liberace Goes West.”
Ded ded ded ded ded.
I wish I could claim that incredible burn but I cannot. I can only hope the author truly felt the gratitude I experienced upon reading it.
While at Stampede, Pierre Poilievre decided to channel his inner Pete Hegseth by claiming he would support “a warrior culture” in our armed forces over “woke culture”. If only you could bottle the manufactured testosterone from a guy whose hands are probably softer than mine.
Mr. Poilievre may have had humble beginnings in Calgary being raised by two teachers with union wages and job security during the 80’s oil price downturn, but even before he donned the Western formal wear for last week’s Stampede appearance, Mr. Poilievre can hardly be considered anything less than political elite after more than 20 years in Ottawa. The latter is only worth pointing out since he was, as a young Reformer, adamant that elected officials should be allowed to serve no more than two terms.
And he says his beliefs haven’t changed since he was a teenager.
Mr. Poilievre also went after those danged “Liberal lobbyists from out east” who keep voting Conservative, because that’s what a career built on division does— it seeks more division.
In his quest to be true to his Reform roots, he might just exile the party right back to its roots, too— as unelectable east of Manitoba.
Pierre Poilievre takes aim at fellow Conservative voters
One of the most startling things I remember learning about political identities is how many offshoots conservatism has that agree on enough to consider themselves a branch of the same, but different enough to require specific principles that put them entirely at odds with them, too. As I was taking this all in however many years ago, it occurred to me that no matter how many times some repeated “focus on what unites us”, their differences are so fundamental that it cannot last.
TIL…
Okay, it was two days ago.
There I was, watching StackTV on the minimum tier for Prime streaming when I heard the darnedest commercial. An older gentleman was talking about how great it was to hire youth and play a role in helping them learn important things like having money to manage. A job, you see, teaches these wayward beings about responsibility, “whether they’re making soup or a sandwich”… which seems oddly exclusive.
“19 and 20 year old’s coming out of college and looking for part-time work? They’re the future,” he said.
Future people who can’t make a student loan payment because they work part-time in sandwich shops after college, maybe.
But it wasn’t really about them (of course); Alberta youth are just props for the real target audience— mom and pop business owners who can get money from the Alberta government for hiring youth.
Why benefit students when you can give money to their employers instead? I was agog.
Where was the great press release for this generous injection of funds to address youth unemployment that has increased steadily under the UCP? Where was former Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration (JETI) Minister Matt Jones in this announcement that would help Alberta youth? A $10/hour wage subsidy should have brought all the cameras to his yard.
Well, as it turned out, the UCP didn’t announce their “Alberta Youth Employment Incentive” at all; they just passed it off to the privately-owned but government funding-reliant “CAREERS: the next generation”. It also wasn’t the first time they delegated government responsibilities to them. In 2019, the UCP shuttered the Learning Clicks program and sent the funding for those roles to CAREERS: the next generation as well. I was a rockstar Learning Clicks Ambassador from 2009-2013— my entire four years of university— to me, that was personal.
Anyhow, because paying youth under the age of 18 a discounted minimum wage isn’t enough of an incentive to “hire locally” (that’s the government line), the Alberta government will effectively subsidize youth employment by $10 an hour! Imagine being able to pay Canadian youth as much as U.S. automakers pay assembly-line workers in Mexico! That’s the real American dream right there.
Now, there is some responsibility on behalf of the lucky employer who applies to this “first come, first serve” bankrolling— after 200 hours, they have to fill out a form detailing how “job ready” the Alberta youth between the ages of 15 and 24 has become after being carefully guided in the ways of worker responsibilities.
Instead of announcing this program to Albertans, they advertized it— to employers. They weren’t targeting youth, they targeted those who profit from their labour— now with twice as much benefit.
In fact, I’ll even go out on a limb to say this is the UCP’s version of the NDP’s 2016 hiring incentive program they had to cancel after it was panned loudly by employer groups during the downturn. Ken Kobly, then-President of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce said of the NDP’s incentive program, “(t)he point we were making is businesses will hire when they need staff,” Kobly said.
“The important thing to do right now is to get the economy moving – that will create your jobs for you.”
Words to govern by, I tell you.
Shooting first and asking questions later: a few more UCP policy fails
Women who have taken their husband’s name need to bring a marriage certificate to renew their driver’s licences in Alberta thanks to the UCP’s new requirements. It’s probably not just an anti-women policy bonus, but a way for the anti-trans government to simultaneously get more deets on everyone who dares call Alberta “home”. Personally, I’m considering dropping my married name because I will already have to request a new birth certificate, and proof of my Alberta Health Number (will they still issue cards??), and I don’t feel like paying for another marriage certificate on the eve of a divorce. Hold your feelings— we’ve been separated for 25 and a half years; much like a UCP policy announcement, it’s not actually something “new”.
Annnd I just realized that my healthcare is in my married name. FFS. Obviously I have some thinking to do about how to manage this impending set of circumstances.
Anyhow, they made sure AISH recipients and those receiving Alberta Senior’s benefits (that is, low income seniors) received the $100 gas tax rebate automatically— which is fun because these are two groups of Albertans who are almost explicitly not incurring excess fuel costs to do things like “go to work”. Despite the fact that they have all the information they need to send the $100 rebate to Albertans who qualify, they made it more difficult; and it will probably save them a lot of money.
When I was commuting to Calgary, I had to fill up every four days. My math (usual caveat applies) said that was about five tanks of gas per month if I never went anywhere else, which, for a 70L tank would have cost me an additional $9.00 per fill. Over a three-month period, it would have cost an additional $135. For their rural base, the $100 isn’t enough to cover the loss of not reducing the gas tax, and for those who pay $150 to fill up a pickup truck every few days, it’s a rounding error.
Either way, the Alberta Treasury has a few more dollars to pay for pipelines, which is the priority now; as the oil lobbyists-turned-Premier intended.
Final thoughts
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Excellent overview of 'crazy land'. I do enjoy your sense of humour, and hope it keeps growing. You're going to need it! (We're all going to need it.)