Follow the money. It's the oldest rule in journalism.
It usually explains the virtuous rhetoric that sometimes emanates from the mouths of politicians and lobbyists. You dress up crass self-interest in the garb of some lofty cause, and bingo! You've got a nice shiny message to sell.
Which brings me to the unseemly whining now emanating from the politicians in Ontario and Quebec. On the eve of the Copenhagen climate summit, they're doing their best to pose as virtuous defenders of the planet.
The truth? It's all about money, as it always is.
In particular, they're lobbying the feds to adopt a tougher stance on curbing carbon emissions. Although the Harper government's goal is a 20-per-cent cut below 2006 levels by 2020--slightly tougher than the U.S. target of 17 per cent--that's not enough to satisfy them.
They demand that Ottawa go further. You know, to save the planet. The fact that Canada accounts for a mere two per cent of global emissions, or that oil and natural gas just happen to be the country's top exports, matters not.
"Canada's position needs to be much more ambitious," Ontario's environment minister, John Gerretsen, told a Toronto newspaper. In particular, he says Ontario fears the feds will impose an unfair burden on Ontario and Quebec to meet Canada's 2020 goal, while giving the oilsands a free pass.
"Our biggest fear is that the feds may try to use the good work that's been done by us as part of their overall goal, and thereby allow the tar sands development to proceed without hesitation."
Since Quebec, Ontario and B.C. are shooting for ambitious emissions cuts while Alberta's emissions--due to growth in the oilsands--are expected to grow, the pols in Central Canada call this a grave injustice.
Well, if it's a level playing field they want, let's have one. But why limit the discussion to carbon emissions? Why not look at the whole picture?
Under the current system of wealth redistribution in Canada, Albertans paid an estimated $21.1 billion-- or $5,742 per person--more to the feds than they got back in federal services in 2009, according to Alberta Finance stats.
While Albertans forked out $40.5 billion in federal taxes and other payments, Ottawa returned just $19.3 billion in services. Per capita, the feds collect more, and spend less in Alberta than anywhere else. It's not even close.
On an individual basis, the outflow of dollars from Albertans' pockets to federal coffers was more than three times the rate for Ontario in 2007, the last year for which comparative data are available.
Since Ontario has become a "have not" province, that gap has only grown since.
Quebec, by far the biggest recipient of federal equalization cash, and the quickest to point fingers at the oil-sands as the root of all environmental evil, has indirectly sucked billions of dollars out of Alberta's oil industry. Put simply, Quebec postures as a green leader, while Albertans get to pay for it.
Now, the pols in cash-strapped Ontario and Quebec want an even bigger share of Alberta's oil wealth, under the helpful guise of saving the planet.
You've gotta hand it to ' em. It's a clever plan. They get to sound virtuous, while we get to pay. Forget the billions Ontario demanded from the feds to prop up its auto industry. According to their logic, it's only the stuff that goes into the gas tank that's bad, and you know where that comes from.
At least TD Bank CEO Ed Clark--father of the much-reviled National Energy Program--is straightforward. He just goes out and funds a study that tells him what he wants to hear, and what he wants you to know. Then the Toronto-based "national" press parrots the message.
So what does Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach think about the latest huffing and puffing emanating from those virtuous green politicians in Central Canada?
"I've said repeatedly that Alberta is determined to be a leader in clean energy development, through initiatives such as the $2-billion investment in commercializing carbon capture and storage," he says, in an e-mail exchange.
"That's not the issue. The issue is understanding the critical role the Alberta economy plays in supporting our prosperity and quality of life--not just here, but across the country. Through a massive transfer of dollars from our economy, Alberta does more than its share in supporting important federal transfers--which in turn help underpin the unity of our country.
"If Alberta is not able to make that contribution to Canada, as a result of cap and trade--or whatever label you care to put on it--where's the money going to come from?I don't see anyone asking that question," he notes.
It is a good question. Particularly in view of the brutal economic realities Canada faces right now, with the auto sector in trouble, the forestry sector on its knees, and virtually all governments awash in red ink.
In particular, Stelmach takes issue with all the self-serving talk emanating from Quebec, a province that's been lauded by Al Gore as Canada's environmental leader.
"I have said that Alberta will not agree to another equalization program by stealth, dressed up as environmental protection. Quebec is already a recipient of about $8 billion annually from equalization that is largely Albertasupported," Stelmach says.
"So Quebec should be very careful about insisting Alberta take a disproportionate hit, while expecting that Quebec residents will not be obliged to make sacrifices in their own standards of living."
The thinly veiled message?
Quebecers who have come to expect goodies like subsidized child care and low university tuition rates in a province that's deeply in debt might want to follow the money.
A lot of it is coming from Alberta's oil industry.
glamphier@thejournal.canwest.com © Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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