Yesterday was not a good day for the Trudeau government. The Federal Court of Appeal shut down the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project. And word out of Washington is that the Trumpian Trade Talks are souring. On the subject of Trans Mountain, Tim Harper writes:
In a stunning confluence of events, the court overturned the National Energy Board and cabinet approval of the Trudeau pipeline expansion on the same day that shareholders with Kinder Morgan, no doubt with huge grins on their face, washed their hands of the project and gave it — lock, stock and legal headache — to the prime minister and Canadian taxpayers.
Even if it only delays the project, the court decision will mean a bigger price tag for the taxpayer, and raise another red flag to foreign investors looking at Canada as a place to do business.
[Rachel] Notley remains landlocked, and that figure in her rearview mirror is the anti-carbon-tax Jason Kenney.
It also must pain a government that has hung so much of its credibility on Indigenous reconciliation to be told by a court that its consultation with Indigenous communities concerned about this expansion amounted to little more than note-taking.
“The government of Canada was required to engage in a considered, meaningful two-way dialogue,’’ the court said in its decision. “However, for the most part, Canada’s representatives limited their mandate to listening to and recording the concerns of the Indigenous applicants and then transmitting those concerns to the decision-makers.”
Trudeau's rhetoric has met the road. In fairness, Canadian Federalism has several moving parts, and getting them to all move in the same direction is no mean feat.
Besides Trans Mountain, Trudeau has been trying to do business with the Orange Ignoramus south of the border, who former Canadian trade negotiator Gordon Ritchie has called "an appallingly ignorant man."
Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland may leave Washington without a deal. And without a pipeline, Justin will face a storm of criticism -- from all sides.
Image: DADCAMP
12 comments:
If Trudeau leaves Washington without a trade deal, he'll get nothing but support from me. The business press will roast him, of course, but they're more interested in fat paycheques for their CEOs than proper news analysis.
Cap
While it is true that federalism is complex, Owen, I think the fact that taxpayers are now left with a $4.5 billion white (at least for the foreseeable future) elephant is ample testament to the Trudeau government's massive ineptitude.
Now is the time for Justin to show us that he's more than just a skilled rhetorician, Cap.
Chrystia Freeland should be awarded a medal for putting up with all the crap issuing from Trumph's orifice and remaining calm and at the table trying to reach a deal with negotiators that are probably also stuck between a jerk and a hard place. Agreeing to any 'deal' dictated by the U.S. without major push back puts our very democracy at risk.
I agree, Rural. Trump isn't good for democracy -- any democracy.
No deal NAFTA has no impacts on trade and business, except,
In December a new Mexican Administration is sworn in with completely different trade goals.
That's the whole deal with the fake deadline.
Mr. Trump chooses to ignore that fact, Jay. And he believes that, if he ignores it, it will go away.
The ReThug Party has become the Know Nothing Party.
That's why the Court's toss their Legislation, their tariffs, their Executive Orders, and they saddled themselves with a mobbed up Ignoramus.
They are the Dunning Kruger Party.
They are, indeed, a thuggish lot, Jay. And their president is a Mob Boss. I'm certain Mueller will make that abundantly clear.
Suppose for a moment that, come November, the polls, pundits and prognosticators are as wrong about the mythologized Blue Wave (woo woo) as they were four years ago about the possibility of Trump becoming president.
How much debasement will the rest of the world accept then?
Good question, Deacon. The willingness of seemingly intelligent people to grovel before a man who is manifestly stupid defies logic.
I've written before that the pipeline makes no economic sense, Lorne. The Tar Sands are a stranded asset and the government has made an expensive investment in buggy whips. Trudeau made that investment to get Rachel Notley on side with his climate change agenda. It was interesting to see how quickly she withdrew from that agenda.
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