Kenney’s comments add fuel to an interprovincial ideological and trade dispute between Alberta and British Columbia over oil and climate change that shows no signs of speedy resolution. It threatens further political difficulty if Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal administration is obliged to intervene. The dispute, which is splitting the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) which governs Alberta and British Columbia, points to the heated debate between middle-class environmentalists bent on averting climate change and working-class unions anxious to preserve jobs, including in energy.
The United Conservatives are likely to form the next Albertan government.
The federal government is likely to intervene through the National Energy Board and courts to save the TMP.
Courts will likely rule against British Columbia, setting a precedent.
Limited progress on increasing pipeline capacity will cause investors to leave the Alberta oil patch.
