The government of Danielle Smith is taking the win. They see it as a big win.
They see it as a vindication for all those who believe Alberta should fight back against Ottawa every single time the feds stick their nose in where it doesn’t belong.
Every single time they try to muscle in where the province has the authority to make decisions and not a federal government playing all high and mighty.
On Tuesday, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has more political knives coming at him than Julius Caesar had real ones, backs off on pushing a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
Now net-zero is 2050. The move did not come with any fanfare and Trudeau’s green guru Steven Guilbeault was nowhere pontificating from his green pulpit.
Until now, Alberta was told to stop whining, don’t pick fights, get lost, the province has it all wrong. They don’t understand it would be apocalypse soon if they didn’t get with the program.
On Tuesday, someone in the Smith universe said: “Sovereignty Act 1. Ottawa 0. That’s the score now.”
Of course, it would be too good to be true for the Trudeau government to do the right thing all the way through.
That would be far too much to ask from this rapidly disintegrating government.
For Rebecca Schulz, Smith’s point person on the environment file, it is a big win when Trudeau and Guilbeault have to admit their target is unachievable and completely unrealistic and Canadians are not buying their baloney.
“I think it’s a major win. They are admitting defeat. They are admitting what Alberta has said all along is true. This is also an admission Canadians oppose their environmental policy just like they oppose the carbon tax.
“This is a recognition from the federal government that they are wrong and Canadians do not support them.”
But the story does not end with that happy ending. The Trudeau government is not big into happy endings.
The next move is the old devil in the details.
“They went too far. Canadians let them know but they are still choosing ideology.”
An ideology sinking into the political quicksand.
“What we’re seeing in the fine print are requirements, targets and performance standards that are unachievable, unconstitutional, unrealistic and unaffordable. See us in court,” says Schulz, who is going through the latest from Trudeau with a fine tooth comb.
“Canadians know better than to trust this federal government.
“We are going to continue to oppose them. We will absolutely be taking them to court and we will win.”
Schulz also takes time to mention an Alberta NDP policy statement from last year.
It states urgent action is absolutely necessary to achieve a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
Ooops.
“It should be pretty scary for Albertans when that’s where the Alberta NDP is at,” she says.
The NDP did not put out any statement Tuesday.
Why does Schulz think this stuff is happening now?
“We have a federal government desperately trying to change the channel as they head into the holiday season. They are in complete disarray, this government is falling apart, they’re grasping for straws hoping for a headline.
“They are frenetic. They are in free fall. They are trying to do policy by headline and sound bite and, not only are Canadians smarter than that, they are done with this federal government.”
Of course this could all go away if the Liberals were punted out of power.
“Wouldn’t that be the best gift for Canadians,” says Schulz.
Yes, all of this takes place against a backdrop of Bizarroland.
It is a day when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre can pound the prime minister while enjoying a landslide victory in a byelection in B.C. where the Liberals held the seat and then were pulverized Monday night.
“If you have clowns you get a circus but no one should be laughing,” says Poilievre.
“Trudeau is seen as a clown right around the world.
“It is all very entertaining if it weren’t so tragic.”
Real drama is in the real world where people do feel real pain and express real outrage and disgust.
And it is a day when U.S . President-elect Donald Trump ridicules Trudeau still calling him the governor of Canada, the 51st state.
Poilievre speaks of “the national humiliation” as Trump, who the Conservative leader sees as a very powerful negotiator, is now “laughing at our weak, pathetic prime minister.”
The Conservative leader once again calls for an election.
Meanwhile, one Liberal member of parliament guesses up to 50 Liberal MPs now want Trudeau to take a hike.
Trudeau says he needs time to reflect, a walk on a beach perhaps.