Mulcair attacks rightwing PREMIERS - not 'western provinces'

[Unknown]

We (those of us who CAN think) are seeing the Harper Cons trying to put a wedge between Thomas
Mulcair, popular new Opposition leader, and those people who live in the 'western provinces'.

Firstly, I don't believe for a minute that 'the western provinces' consist of anything but BC
and Alberta. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, are 'the central provinces'.
Anything east of Quebec are the 'eastern provinces'.

Now we see Mulcair's comments on the environmental disaster we know as the Alberta tarsands as
"pitting east against west". Nothing could be further from the truth. He is showing up THE
PREMIERS of several provinces - the rabid PRO-tarsands premiers - as promoting tarsands
expansion that will endanger the economies and environments of many Canadian provinces.

He isn't wrong.

Harper & Co have given major tax breaks to those foreign-owned oil companies operating in
Alberta's tarsands while exporting major manufacturing jobs from all other provinces -
especially Ontario and BC.

Mulcair is speaking for the RESIDENTS of those 'western provinces' who want the bloody tarsands
gone from their environment, their politics and their country. BC is about to kick the ass of
one of those rightwing Premiers, Christy Clark, because she is not only in favour of the
tarsands expansion, she is getting MAJOR FUNDING from the oil companies of Alberta for the
up-coming election in British Columbia. BCers KNOW what side of the issue she is on - and
Mulcair was targeting her, the re-elected tarsands proponent in Alberta, Alison Redford, and
Conservative Brad Wall of Saskatchewan, for their self-serving stance on the dirty oil of
Alberta.

This is not "pitting east against west" on the part of Thomas Mulcair. It is telling us all
that the "west against east" and any other province that stands in Alberta's way - is NOT going
to be tolerated by this Opposition leader. Our environment is at stake - as is Canada's global
reputation - because of the greed that is emanating from Alberta and its rightwing Premier
allies of BC and Saskatchewan.

British Columbians want the current government of BC - gone. Not only for their long history
of lies, deceptions and abuse of our tax dollars, but also for their support of major oil
pipelines into, and across our province, which will end in single-hull tankers from China
polluting more than just the visual beauty of our coastline.

Saskatchewan can accommodate the American oil companies and their pipelines if they want to . .
. good luck to them and the lands those pipelines may cross. But British Columbians have much
too much to lose. Animal habitats, parklands, fisheries, coastal habitats and even the cruise
industries - all endangered because Alberta's 'firewall' suddenly had to be breached to gain
access to the waters off the west coast.

Well, fuck them. BC is not here for the greedy Albertans, who don't care if other provinces
have to suffer their environmental pollutions. BC is not here to give access to American oil
companies who want to make a buck from the burgeoning Chinese market. BCis not here to risk
endangering its very reputation as 'ne of the most beautiful places on earth' because the
goddamn American oil companies don't want to 'frack' their own oil reserves in Texas or
California - and would prefer it be done to Canadian soil.

Mulcair is speaking out for all of us in those provinces that the Harper Cons and his rightwing
Premiers west of Ontario. Mulcair is not 'pitting west against east' - he is spotlighting the
CURRENT FACTIONS that exist between a few greedy provinces and the rest of the country. Good
luck to him - and may the smarter voters prevail in the next federal and provincial elections.
_________________________________
May 20, 2012

Tom Mulcair will not move, but Conservatives define oilsands debate

Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair has been branded as impetuous, but he has been consistent over
the long haul with his views on the oilsands, and the perils of resource extraction without
sustainable long-term environmental policies in all regions of the country.

He shows no sign of backing down, saying this is a three-year debate, perhaps the defining
issue in the 2015 campaign.

OTTAWA—The Conservatives like to call it “poking the bear.”

But the big question on the federal political landscape right now is how the bear, so far
unwilling to move no matter how many times the stick is stuck in his ribs, will ultimately
respond.

The government will keep poking Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair, alleging he is pitting east
versus west, because they believe they have found the NDP leader’s soft underbelly, a flank
Mulcair himself exposed.

Some Conservatives may sincerely believe Mulcair’s call for environmental sustainability in
this country is really a question of unity and an insult to the ascendant west. But in strictly
political terms, the goal here is to spark a Mulcarian eruption or a humiliating climb down.

And the longer they poke, the more they evade scrutiny of Employment Insurance reforms or Old
Age Security changes or anything else they have buried in their giant budget bill.

Instead, for two weeks the NDP leader has been the focus as he endured attack by Twitter,
Facebook, editorial page, punditry, radio interview, television interview, government
statement, government answer and government minister striding to the microphone in the foyer of
the Commons.

He has been kicked by Brad Wall, Alison Redford, Christy Clark, Stephen Harper, Joe Oliver,
James Moore, any number of Conservative backbenchers, Rex Murphy and the right-wing media in
this country.

Since his election as NDP leader, Mulcair has been a revelation.

He has sharpened questions in the House, been unafraid of sparking debate, staking a position
and using some pugilistic language to back it.

He is not of the bland, meaningless platitudes which pass for so much of the so-called debate
in the nation’s capital.

He does not do nuance. He has, however, also been something of a contradiction.

He has been branded as impetuous, but he has been consistent over the long haul with his views
on the oilsands, and the perils of resource extraction without sustainable long-term
environmental policies in all regions of the country.

He shows no sign of backing down, saying this is a three-year debate, perhaps the defining
issue in the 2015 campaign.
But he has also shot from the hip.

More crucial is how he handles a controversy which was still playing on western Canadian front
pages this weekend.

“They’ve picked the wrong guy if they think they’re going to be bullying me,” Mulcair says of
the Conservative attacks.

But the Conservatives will be relentless. Their base is in the west and they are hardly
apologetic about trumpeting the strength of the region.

“We are the future,” Heritage Minister Moore, a British Columbian, told the NDP leader.

Mulcair knows how to retreat if needed.

He will have to find a little finesse and the long-lost nuance in order to somehow close the
book on the environmental debate, for now.

Redford took a step toward him in an interview with the Calgary Herald Saturday, conceding
Alberta needs to do a better job of explaining the economic benefits of the oilsands to the
rest of the country.

Roger Gibbins, the president of the Canada West Foundation, added that Mulcair is tapping into
a widely held Canadian sentiment that the oilsands are not being managed in an environmentally
responsible manner.

Mulcair, in what will be the most closely watched domestic trip of an opposition leader in
years, will be in Alberta for two days at the end of the month.

Here’s betting he and Redford, as two mature political leaders, will bend over backwards to
find some common ground.

********************************************************************************
We hang the petty thieves and elect the greatest ones to public office.