Mean, Nasty People

If you think Donald Trump is the only leader who is hellbent on investigating his opponents, think again. It's happening here, too. An editorial in The Globe and Mail focuses on Jason Kenney's and Doug Ford's obsession with their political opponents:

It’s long been Mr. Kenney’s contention that opposition to the oil sands has gone past the bounds of free speech and morphed into “a premeditated, internationally planned and financed operation to put Alberta energy out of business,” as he said Thursday.

It’s not clear what this investigation is supposed to find that isn’t already obvious. Alberta’s struggles stem from a lack of pipeline capacity and a drop in the global price of crude oil. Perhaps the inquiry will discover the shocking truth that supply, demand and Mideast countries influence oil prices, or that environmentalists oppose pipelines. Maybe it will learn, from reading news reports, about how the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion was delayed by a failure to fully consult with Indigenous groups. Or how several export pipeline plans have been hamstrung by U.S. regulators.

Mr. Kenney’s inquiry will do nothing to solve the real problem, but it plays well to frustrated Albertans who see their greatest resource struggling to get to market.

Doug Ford is also focused on revenge. He's been getting even with his enemies since he came to office:

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Premier, Doug Ford, played the same game when he came to power last year and immediately launched a committee hearing into what he called the “worst political cover-up in Ontario’s history."

The alleged scandal was the move by the previous Liberal government to fudge its budgetary bottom line. The issue had already been examined by the provincial auditor-general and in an independent report, but the Premier felt it needed a third going-over by a Queen’s Park committee with the power to call witnesses and subpoena evidence.

In the end, all this produced was the sight of former premier Kathleen Wynne gamely answering questions asked by the stacked government committee, and being hectored by PC MPPs demanding that she apologize to the people of Ontario. In short, a kangaroo court.

All this revenge is occurring as Ford's recently demoted minister Lisa MacLeod calls Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk a "fucking loser." We've known for a long time that many conservatives lack charm. But, more importantly, they lack a basic sense of fairness.

They are simply mean, nasty people.

Image: Ontario NDP