There may not be a French translation for the word “chutzpah,” but that doesn’t mean that Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet can’t summon it.
Case in point: his recent suggestion that the federal government shouldn’t prop up oil and gas businesses “that will not be self-sufficient in any time in the future.”
You could almost hear Albertans choking on their indignation when he said that, given Quebec’s storied history of propping up businesses whose own lack of self-sufficiency is a matter of public record.
But he wasn’t alone in taking aim at the federal government’s support for Alberta’s favourite industry. Not surprisingly, outgoing Green Party Leader Elizabeth May joined the fray in arguing that, “Oil is dead and for people in the sector, it’s very important there be just transition funds.”
In keeping with his campaign’s unofficial theme of making the least of every available opportunity, Conservative leadership hopeful Peter MacKay responded by asking how May and Blanchet travelled to Ottawa.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/max-fawcett-canadian-oil-still-has-a-future-even-if-elizabeth-may-cant-see-it