I never put a lot of stock into the Speech from the Throne, whether it be a provincial or federal level.
As a general rule, by their very nature, the speeches are vague and short on details. Basically it’s a document, that is written by the government and read out by the Lieutenant Governor, that roughly details what the government plans to bring forward in terms of legislation in the next session.
In one of my favourite Royal Canadian Air Farce skits Roger Abbot characterized every Speech from the Throne, as listing a bunch of good things, followed by a list of promises, a good dose of B.S. ended with the statement, the greatest government ever.
While this was said in jest, I find there is a lot of truth to that, which is why I mostly ignore them.
That is until March 8, when the Alberta government threatened to cut off oil and gas, or at least throttle the amount back, to B.C. if they continue to put up roadblocks to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
It is a tactic the province has done before, with success. In 1980, then Premier Peter Lougheed fought Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s national energy program by passing a regulation to restrict the amount of oil and gas leaving Alberta by 15 per cent. The government also stopped issuing permits for natural gas exports. As a result of this pressure the federal government agreed to renegotiate the program.
While successful then, I’m not sure it would be successful this time, because, quite frankly I don’t believe the provincial government has the power to carryout with the threat.
Unlike Alberta’s short-lived wine boycott, where the government through Gaming and Liquor Commission basically controls the distribution, gas and oil products are a different matter as they are private businesses.
It would be like the government, provincial or otherwise, telling one of our Barrhead businesses who they couldn’t sell their products to. Assuming the oil companies agree to cut back transportation of its products to B.C., which in my mind is doubtful, for two reasons: the first being if there was a more lucrative alternative, they would already have taken the opportunity.
However, perhaps the more important reason, is that I suspect the oil companies’ hands are handcuffed. Most petroleum products, gasoline and oil, are distributed through various franchises such as Husky, Chevron and Petro Canada. Those companies through legally binding contracts are obligated to provide the product, and in the proper amount to those franchises.
If the government interferes in this process, I can just imagine the Pandora’s box of litigation that this will open.
So my advice to future governments when writing the Speech from the Throne is to keep to Air Farce’s format and leave the threats, especially one that in all likelihood can’t be followed up on out of it.
