How dare You?
Mr. Montpetit from La Présentation, (Qc.) is aware that the demands that Mrs. Smith, Premier of Alberta has made to the government of Canada, and the other provinces, are incompatible with the need to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.
How dare You!
Since the threat of tariffs and President Trump’s possible annexation of the «51st state», Mrs. Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta, has broken rank with other Canadian politicians in order to promote the political agenda of the UCP (United Conservative Party) based on the unhindered promotion of the oil and gas industry. According to her, « .. Alberta, particularly its oil and gas industry, has been undermined for a decade by anti-business policies and laws from the federal Liberals...» [1] Her public address to Albertans of May 5th was a litany of questionable gripes against «... destructive legislation by the government of Ottawa...» and all the «lost opportunities» that this has supposedly caused to the economy of Alberta.[2]
Is the government in Ottawa really the arch villain with an unacceptable bias against Alberta’s oil sands? If so, why did it support the Keystone XL project that would have brought Alberta’s dilbit (diluted bitumen) to the southern USA? More to the point, why did Trudeau’s Liberals purchase the Transmountain pipeline(TMX) from Kinder-Morgan for 4,5 billion, then spent over 30 billion in subsidies, loans and loan guarantees in order to triple its capacity? All that money came from the pockets of Canadian taxpayers from coast to coast to coast so that more of Alberta’s oil could be exported to foreign countries![3] After all those billions that the government of Ottawa forced us to pay against our will in favour of your oil and gas industry, how dare you whine that Ottawa is the enemy of your economic expansion!
If you are worried about loss of investment and loss of jobs in your province, perhaps you should ask yourself why your government imposed a sudden moratorium on renewables energies in 2023. Wind power and solar energy could have made your province «Canada’s renewable energy capital»; it would have been a golden opportunity to transition in the economy of the future. Instead, that moratorium has put billions of dollars of investment on «HOLD» and it has put thousands of jobs in jeopardy in order to protect the fossil fuel industry.[4] How dare you hamstring the industry of the future in order protect the industry of yesteryear!
Speaking of the future, are you aware that the vast majority of scientists as well as IPCC (International panel on climate change) are extremely worried about the impacts of catastrophic climate events? In Alberta, you had droughts and extreme heat; in Calgary, you had the 2013 flood plus the 2024 hailstorm; and last year’s fire in Jasper, without forgetting the «Beast», the monstrous wildfire of Fort McMurray. You and your supporters may try to deny the cause of these events, but the actuaries of insurance companies are aware of the true cost. [5]
Ignoring Canada’s commitments to the Paris Accords can be costly! As Mr Fatih Birol, IEA’s (International Energy Agency) executive director and one of the world’s foremost energy economist said: “If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, ...” [6] Furthermore, we may question the wisdom of promoting fossil fuels when we are fast approaching «PEAK OIL» and a declining demand for your product. In this likely scenario, the global economy would quickly put international oil prices below the production costs of Alberta’s tar sands. In other words, your long-time economic opponent is not a Liberal government of Ottawa, but the global economic forecast [7]
As per your address of May 5th, the conditions that you want to impose to the rest of the country are in direct contradiction with the necessity to address climate change. A global Trumpian economy, based on an unrestrained production of fossil fuels would quickly lead to a dire climatic future. Youth would compelled to live through these catastrophes. Globally, the «Drill, baby drill» approach will be a nightmare for those born after the year 2000.
The brutal frankness of teenagers comes through in the speech that Greta Thurnberg made to the United Nations in September 2019. A few excerpts from that speech applies to the outrageous demands that the government of Alberta seem determined to impose on Canada;
.....People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you! "For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight……….."You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you. "We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not. ..[8]
How dare you, Mrs. Smith! If we caved-in to your blackmail, the youth of Alberta, of Canada and of the world would never forgive our weakness! Appeasement never works!
Gérard Montpetit
La Présentation, Qc.
May 19, 2025
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2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DBG8m5I-YE&t=126s
