It’s possible that two politicians on opposite sides of a dispute might both be completely disingenuous. That doesn’t preclude one of them from being right.
John Horgan’s attempts to be the premier who moved a Trans-Mountain pipeline prompted a case of Pinot Gris-talliation recently, with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley spearheading a boycott of B.C. wine.
Notley is protecting Alberta’s oil and gas business. Horgan is defending B.C.’s tourism industry. But despite those similarly self-interested, protectionist concerns, Notley is wrong and Horgan is right.
Notley’s willingness to conflate the daily movement of 890,000 barrels of oil with $160 million of wine imports is obtuse; and not just because B.C. can’t apply water and vinegar to a spill. Notley sheds further credibility by advocating on behalf of Kinder Morgan’s project, equating the pipeline with Confederation, and accusing Horgan of “political game-playing” on the eve of the West Kelowna byelection.
The boycott also stirs up a corrosive sense of tribalism. Despite stereotypes about Calgary cowboys and Vancouver inner-children, our lumber and their beef are part of one large, interdependent economy. It’s that economy, including B.C. wineries and Alberta bistros, that is facing consequences because Notley seems to believe more oil spill reviews are unnecessary.
When it comes to protecting Canada’s coastline it’s easy to be too quick and nearly impossible to be too thorough.
Whatever their motivations, Notley’s decisions have been predicated on the world bequeathed to her. Horgan’s choices are based on the world the next generation will inherit.
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