Looking at two recent national news clips one could conclude a number of circumstances: is the Christmas eggnog flowing too early on Parliament Hill, are political strategists on overtime, or is it all of the above? To begin, last week Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver took to the bun circuit saying the government's pro-development stance on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was softening.
Speaking to energy industry leaders last week in Calgary, at a luncheon event hosted by the Economic Club of Canada, Oliver said, "If we don't get people on side, we don't get the social license - politics often follows opinion - and so we could well get a positive regulatory conclusion that is looking at the Northern Gateway, but if the population is not on side, there is a big problem."
For Oliver - and indeed the Stephen Harper government - this is a not-so-subtle about face. Just a few months ago - and again in Alberta - Oliver said, "Gateway, in our opinion, is in the national interest."
So is Joe Oliver's new-found conversion a function of the Christmas eggnog? Gee, maybe he's been captured by Green MP Elizabeth May? Or is he attempting to fire up Western political interest in the Gateway project, while signalling a ministry nod for an alternate Enbridge pipeline proposal to increase the movement of Western Canadian oil to Eastern Canada?
It's no doubt the latter two. From a political perspective, turning on the pipeline-opposition heat in Calgary is not particularly risky. There's little fear the oil-patch crowd will vote any way other than Conservative.
But Oliver's musings send a message to the business community, particularly the communities that would benefit from the Northern Gateway project. We know the pipeline gain to the British Columbia economy will be in the millions. It's in the billions to the larger Canadian economy as currently we're losing $66 million a day due to the discounted price of locked-in Canadian oil as it flows to our one customer, the U.S.
I would say it's about time the B.C. business community rustled up some courage and got on side in a big way with Enbridge and the Northern Gateway project. The benefits are enormous and if anything Joe Oliver is telling the oil industry in general - and British Columbians in particular - that it's time to get on the ball or on the bus. It's your opportunity - if you can't support the Northern Gateway project no one else will.
The other story - and this one might be heavily steeped in eggnog - comes from Liberal MP and leadership candidate Justin Trudeau. Last week, Trudeau the younger said the national long-gun registry had been a failure. Holy Allan Rock, Batman, that's a shocker. Imagine a contender to the throne of Jean Chretien and all that is Liberal, shooting a hole in one of the defining Grit planks of the 1990s.
It's hard to say if this is the eggnog effect or a political suck-up to the West following the close Liberal loss in the Calgary-Centre by-election.
What ever, Justin Trudeau has set the memory of the long-gun registry cat amongst the old-guard Liberal pigeons. And, not unlike the Joe Oliver policy message to the Calgary oil patch, Trudeau may have figured he can't lose his safe Montreal seat no matter what he says, so why not draw the political circle ever wider and reach out to rural Canada. One Ottawa pundit labelled Trudeau a serial panderer. Could be, but we'll leave the impact of that criticism to the Liberal Party and their upcoming leadership convention.
Clearly, both the Oliver lunch and the Trudeau lurch had their shock effects, both were risky, but both sent a message. Namely, both said we're listening, but we're certainly not entrenched in political ideology or the imagined perils of the last century.
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Going Green.
Shari Green has been our mayor for a year and it's been a good year. Sure we can grouse about potholes, snow clearing, property taxes, development decisions, China trips and the core review. But, during her 2011 campaign, Green promised change and the necessity to shake things up at City Hall. So far she's delivered. Good leaders are pro-active, they make things happen. They question the status quo and look for opportunities. Indeed, that is the essence of leadership. Sitting back and nit-picking about change leads nowhere. No matter what the endeavour, standing still is never an option. Keep the agenda moving, Mayor Green. Change is inevitable; you can be ahead of it or behind it. Being ahead is better.
