British Columbia Premier Christy Clark had to know what kind of reaction her Throne Speech critique of Alberta would provoke. She planned it because nothing detracts from internal political problems like a good neighbourhood dustup.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on February 15, 2016.

OTTAWA—When the going gets tough, the tough get slagging.

It is a political game as old as the hills. Politicians play it for the simple reason that it works.

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark had to know what kind of reaction her Throne Speech critique of Alberta would provoke. She planned it because nothing detracts from internal political problems like a good neighbourhood dustup.

The late Calgary mayor Ralph Klein went on to become Alberta’s most popular premier after he bluntly coined the phrase “let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark.”

During the national energy program, the federal Liberal government was so despised that it was easy to paint all easterners with the same brush.

Alberta Conservative politicians have been dining for years on the offal of that 35-year-old energy decision, initiated in the aftermath of two world oil shortages.

Even Alberta kids who weren’t born during the last century know about the terrible eastern plague visited on their province by the national government.

The bottom line is that picking fights, and continuing them long after they are relevant, works for politicians.

Politicians of all persuasions understand the power of engaging your citizens in a fight against a common enemy. Just ask Donald Trump. But what is good for politicians can be economically counterproductive.

Alberta is in trouble now, and it behooves all of us as Canadians to step in and support the province.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to roll out the first major infrastructure investments in Alberta was recognition that governments should help those who need it most.

Contrary to past history, last week’s interprovincial fight was started by another western province taking direct aim at Alberta’s economic record.

On the heels of a stinging credit downgrade, the calculated attack on Alberta was unconscionable. Why kick another province while it’s down? Isn’t that the time when we are supposed to stick together? Or has the country become so deeply fragmented that there is no such thing as the national interest?

One thing is for certain. Clark’s calculated cheap shot blew apart any notion of western solidarity.

One should not be too surprised. This is the same premier who rejected federal Senate reform overtures within minutes of being asked to join a new process.

Sadly, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have both been working overtime to encourage Alberta businesses to relocate.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, in a bid to buttress federal leadership credentials within his own party, is ready and willing to fight all comers.

As Alberta is facing tough times, you would think neighbouring provinces could come together in aid of a friend in need. The country banded together to support Saskatchewan during the great drought of 2001-2002.

Today it appears that filial felicity is dead. There is a lot more ink to be spilled and political gains to be made in attacking our neighbours than in supporting them.

One lone voice reminded us how Alberta was there to support an unemployed workforce when the cod fishery collapsed in Newfoundland in the late nineties.

As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Rex Murphy eloquently recalled, thousands of laid-off fellow Newfoundlanders found jobs in the Alberta oilfields. Some say Fort McMurray boasts more expats from The Rock than native Albertans.

Clark’s calculated attack left the door open for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to show some real national leadership.

By calling on provinces to come together in times of trouble, Trudeau could remind all of us of a greater Canadian value.

Quebec and Ontario have recently formalized their relationship, with joint cabinet meetings and ministers cooperating on common economic goals and environmental issues. Instead of fighting each other for a small piece of the pie, they are trying to figure out how almost 21 million citizens can better bake a bigger pie.

Quebec and Ontario are stronger when they work together. They avoid cannibalizing each other in the hunt for international investment. Alberta and British Columbia need to follow their example.

Individually, each province loses when it fails to engage its neighbours. The opportunities presented by abolishing interprovincial barriers and working together on pipeline, energy and other economic collaborations are much more promising than what can be accomplished by building walls.

Clark, a combative politician, is adept at talking out of both sides of her mouth. The same week that she deliberately introduced a nasty polemic into the government’s throne speech, the premier claimed at a fundraiser that Albertans were her province’s best friends in Canada.

With friends like that, bring on the enemies.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

When one part of Canada is hurting, we all hurt. Parochial provincialism did not build this country in the first place. When the times come to move energy east, we need to figure out the best way to make it work.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on February 1, 2016.

OTTAWA—Any Canadian who drives a car should take an interest in the Energy East pipeline debates.

And we should all be hoping, for the good of the environment and the economy, that political leaders start working together on these key issues.

Energy security and a clean environment go hand and hand. Nobody wins when we simply throw rhetorical brickbats from one side of Canada to the other.

The hot buttons currently being pushed on both sides are proof positive that the federal government needs to play a leadership role on this issue.

That, of course, means working with provinces, but it also means convening meetings where various governments can hammer out their differences around the same table.

The absence of federal leadership on the environmental and energy agenda has meant that every province has stood alone. Each believes they can score political points and extract economic concessions on pipeline route choice from their geographic neighbours.

It sets up a very ugly scenario where each part of the country beats the drum in favour of its own energy advantage, without considering the rest of the country.

Local politicians jump into the mix, with consequences that quickly turn toxic.

The latest volleys over the Energy East pipeline debate have ignited controversy from East to West.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall’s suggestion that Quebec should return equalization payments as a penalty for non-support of the pipeline route was bound to play right into the hands of the separatists.

If the country cannot get its act together on something so crucial as national energy, what is the glue that binds us together?

Separatists argue that they would be better off defining energy policy on their terms, without any other government getting in the way.

Thoughtful leaders on all sides should understand the need for pipelines to carry product to market. There are certainly trade-offs in route placement and economic benefits. The location of a refinery, and value-added petroleum production, both play a role in the mix.

Properly planned, constructed and managed pipelines have served Canada in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

The foremost consideration of safe transport works in favour of pipelines. Whether by road or rail, the potential environmental damage and loss of life is much greater when factors like traffic load and human error are brought to bear.

One only has to reflect on the devastation of the whole Lac Mégantic community because of faulty train braking to realize that pipelines are a safer method of moving product.

Environmentalists will argue that we should be encouraging alternative energy sources. They are right. But in a world with a weakening economic picture, the investment in alternative energy innovation will take time.

Meanwhile, how are we going to gas up our cars?

Of course, an active federal-provincial dialogue will not solve all the challenges of the energy sector.

Quebec will continue to play the hydroelectric green card, because of its abundant access to electrical energy in its own north and that of neighbouring Newfoundland and Labrador.

Alberta is hurting, and needs support from the rest of Canada. But when an economy is suffering, politicians like to refocus the blame.

Only a national energy and environmental dialogue will ensure that all parties are working toward a common solution.

In his mandate letter to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asks for an early meeting “with provincial and territorial leaders to develop a pan-Canadian framework for addressing climate change.

Trudeau proposed the meeting occur with 90 days of the Paris climate change discussions.

The time frame is ambitious but it could provoke a sea change in debate tone and substance.

Canada has already committed to a trilateral North American energy pact. The government is in full preparation mode for the November climate change discussions in Morocco.

That doesn’t leave a lot of time for interprovincial squabbling.

We need to speak with one voice.

When one part of Canada is hurting, we all hurt. Parochial provincialism did not build this country in the first place.

When the times come to move energy east, we need to figure out the best way to make it work.

A national energy consensus benefits all provinces. Most importantly, it can tangibly demonstrate to Canadians that governments are prepared to come together for the common good.

When we work together, the whole of Canada is much bigger than the sum of its parts.

When politicians expend energy simply picking old scabs, we all lose.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.