When it comes to Alberta’s looming election, the federal government had one job: lay low. Spring of 2023 was not the moment to introduce legislation about GHG emissions, or firearms or … I can’t believe I have to say this … equalization.
And yet, here we are. The Trudeau government slipped a clause into omnibus budget legislation locking the equalization formula in for another five years.
In the Fall of 2021, there was a provincial referendum on the absurd question “Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 – Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments – be removed from the constitution?” And well over half of those who showed up for the municipal election voted “yes.”
And that’s about the last we heard of it, because of course no one was actually going to open the constitution. Trevor Tombe has been able to take a break from offering daily explanations that no, the province of Alberta doesn’t actually cut a cheque to send to Ottawa. No one has been talking about equalization for months. And it has been lovely.
And now it’s over. Just in time for a critically important provincial election, the federal government has offered up this gift to the Alberta UCP. It has given Danielle Smith a reason to “stand up to Ottawa” and chastise Justin for ignoring the Alberta referendum results. Will it be enough to swing a close election? Who knows. But you really have to wonder if it couldn’t have waited until Fall.
Expecting Ottawa to organize its priorities in accordance with an Alberta election smacks just a little bit of the Ottawa bashing that characterizes the right wing fringe. Maybe its time to connect the dots between the bad policies coming out of the UCP......and their success at creating a diversion over there (let's all gather together to hate Trudeau/Ottawa/the Federal government..........while our own provincial government wastes money on Keystone pipelines, war rooms, protection of the absolute rights of anti-vaccers, attempts to grab the Alberta portion of the Canada Pension Plan.........etc. etc.
Let's get over ourselves and take a pledge to stop Blind Hatred.....its a precursor to War and War is good for nothing and no one. We're Albertans in this household, and we support banning assault rifles....we want green house gas emissions lowered and we're smart enough to understand the mechanism of equalization.
There may be no hope for folks hollering about those things now...........while the most incompetent, ideologically based government in our history prepares for 4 more years of wasted tax money....and ineffective environmental regulation. I'm hoping the federal government throws the book at the criminals that let that Kearl Lake leak go unreported for 10 months......
AND THEY FOR SURE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF MAY TO GET ON IT.
Other ways to look at it:
- The Trudeau Liberals could have addressed earlier in their mandate the question of whether the equalization program is working effectively and how it might be modernized, and they wouldn't now be in the position in which the program is subject to expire in less than a year and thus requires some action, while an Alberta election is taking place (an entirely foreseeable event, given the fixed election date). Yes, perhaps they could have waited until fall, but then they mightn't have had an omnibus bill in which to quietly bury the renewal. And what if by then an election is imminent in some other jurisdiction where the issue could be relevant?
- Delaying the debate of regularly scheduled legislation in order to reduce the chance of it being a provincial election issue may be defensible, but it might also be seen as a form of election interference, depending on the opinion one holds on a given issue. In a hypothetical scenario in which the Conservatives are in power in Ottawa and the NDP in Alberta, there's a good chance the opinions would be reversed, or at least more complicated.
For reference, Trevor Tombe wrote well on this subject the last time the Liberals quietly slipped through equalization renewal, four years ago: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/equalization-renewal-a-surprise-1.4717501