https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
There’s a story Jason Kenney enjoys telling on the rubber-chicken circuit in Alberta these days that is being particularly well-received.
It begins with the leader of the United Conservative Party denouncing the federal government and politicians in Quebec for effectively sticking a dagger in the Energy East pipeline project, while continuing to accept tankers full of oil from unscrupulous foreign regimes whose industries are subject to little or no environmental oversight.
And he uses the point to segue into an account of a cement plant in Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula that, a few years ago, received an exemption from environmental review.
This, despite the fact that it would spew nearly two million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year into the atmosphere – vastly eclipsing the discharge levels of many oil sands operations in Fort McMurray.
The plant received $400-million in provincial subsidies, Mr. Kenney tells his audience, a portion of which, he surmises, came from the $11-billion in equalization payments Quebec receives annually, the largest percentage of which is contributed by his province. In other words, Alberta is helping to subsidize this plant, too!
For the rest of this column: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-jason-kenney-taps-into-deep-well-of-western-alienation/