With the retail price of gasoline rising to historic levels at the pump, John Horgan and the NDP are having a tough time justifying an April 1st increase to the carbon tax at a time when drivers are hurting the most.
We can forget Horgan’s tired catch-phrase of “making life more affordable for British Columbians” because we are about to witness the escalation of the NDP’s efforts to shut down the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which will only make the situation worse.
Newly elected Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is expected to follow through on his campaign promise to proclaim existing legislation that could potentially ‘turn off the taps’ of oil and gas flowing to B.C.
Horgan already lost round one of this battle last February when a judge struck down the NDP’s initial court action to declare Alberta’s law unconstitutional.
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At the same time, however, Horgan is promising to “use every tool in the toolbox” to block expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The hypocrisy of launching two conflicting law suits is lost on no one. The first seeks to keep an uninterrupted supply of oil and gas to B.C., while the second would halt Alberta’s efforts to reach new markets overseas.
The matter will come to a head when the federal government is expected to deliver a crucial decision on whether or not to green-light the pipeline on June 18th.
Considering Ottawa already invested billions of tax dollars to purchase the pipeline with a view to completing the project, we can pretty much expect a decision to proceed.
This leaves John Horgan and the last remaining NDP government in the country with some tough decisions to make.
Either do the right thing for B.C. and Canada or face the voters at the next election with even higher gas prices.
Donna Barnett is the Liberal MLA for the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
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