Tribute to a Good Man

Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 237 (September 19, 2012) Whispering in the Wind Over the past week, tributes for the late Peter Lougheed have dominated the local and national media, with politicians and broadcasters describing the former premier as one of the greatest provincial leaders in Canadian history. A number of pundits have also labeled Mr. Lougheed as the Father of Modern Alberta and the province’s most important political leader in living memory. These accolades are well deserved and largely based on Mr. Lougheed’s strong conviction toward cooperative federalism and his passion for consensus building – two beliefs that are a must for political leadership in Canada today; although not always followed. For me personally, I was touched by Mr. Lougheed’s unique leadership qualities in the 1970s and 80s and along with working for a number of outstanding ministers (like Hugh Horner and Horst Schmidt); I enjoyed the exceptional experience, an experience for which I will always cherish. Redford’s Wants Consensus – Something Harper Rejects? Six months ago Alison Redford was on the campaign trail fighting for her political life and for another Progressive Conservative mandate, at that time it looked like a losing battle – remember the polls predicting a minority, if not a majority win for Danielle Smith and the Wildrose Party. Enter the big gun Peter Lougheed giving strong support for Premier Redford and her call for a national energy strategy. Well the election is now old news and Premier Redford is enjoying a strong majority government, largely due to Peter Lougheed’s support; but the national energy strategy wished for by both Alison Redford and Peter Lougheed, continues to be resisted by Steven Harper and his government. Last week, Joe Oliver (Mr. Harper’s Natural Resource Minister) opined that Premier Redford’s call for a Canadian energy strategy is redundant, unnecessary and that everything that needs to be done is already being done. In my view, Mr. Oliver is like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand – does not Mr. Oliver (no, does not Mr. Harper) realize that one province (British Columbia) is capriciously holding another province (Alberta) hostage when it comes to the movement of product (bitumen) to overseas markets – sounds a lot like blackmail and unless Alberta coughs up a lot of royalty money Alberta will not be able to transport its bitumen to Asian markets. In the meantime Premier Redford is continuing to gain a consensus amongst the provinces with hopes to present an consensus (for at least nine provinces and three territories) to the nation next year. In the meantime Mr. Harper’s government continues to say that everything that needs to be done is already being done. It’s time for Mr. Harper and his government to get more active and do some “cooperative federalism” and a lot of “consensus building” amongst the provinces. And as I’ve said many times before, it’s time that Mr. Harper did some NATION BUILDING. What’s Next for the Liberals? The Liberal Party of Canada has been relegated to third place in the federal parliament’s pecking order and that’s a long, long way from the top. That pecking order is not going to change next April 14 when so-called liberal supporters, through a kind of “free vote” system will have chosen a new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. How the press handles the work-up to the selection and how they handle the April 14 convention is going to interesting and very telling – will the press write-up the political event as an obituary or a renewal for the Liberals of Canada? Well I’m not going to keep you in any suspense and I’m no seer, it’s that obvious – Justin Trudeau is going to enter the Liberal leadership race and he is going to win. If he decides not run, which is highly unlikely (it should be known within a month or so) then the press can start writing the party’s obituary early and take the spring off. Justin Trudeau (with his youth, charisma, spunk and heritage) is already courting the youth vote with success and if it catches on he could become a formidable force in Quebec and Mulcair’s NDP. Give Mr. Trudeau a couple of years to hone up on policy and he could very well become a real threat to Steven Harper – and the telling part will be the next federal election. So we will all have to wait and see how things unfold – Trudeau has already made a serious error regarding his popularity in Alberta; he’s against the pipeline to the west coast. Nevertheless there is no question in my mind; he is the savior for the Liberal Party of Canada, but he’s a very long way off from being a savior of anything else – let’s wait five years and see.