In the supposedly moralistic story of King Canute of the North Sea Empire, Canute was demonstrating that even a king could not control the tides. It is somewhat strange that premier Jason Kenney of Alberta never paid attention to this story when in grade school. Instead, Kenney challenges the facts of a pandemic, challenges the rulings of the strongest nation on earth and blames others for the results when he fails.
Kenney is the child who keeps calling ‘wolf.’ He is the child of Canadian politics who keeps blaming prime minister Trudeau for his failures. He loses billions of his taxpayers’ money on failed pipelines. He fails his voters by failing to recognize reality. He fails them in not managing their money. He fails them by not recognizing the seriousness of the pandemic. He is a climate change denier.
Kenney locks Alberta in the arms of the tar sands exploiters. These are mainly foreign investors who want the maximum return for their investments in the tar sands. They care not for the thousands of acres of settling ponds that mar the fertile lands of Alberta. They care not for the thousands of depleted oil wells that still dot the landscape of the province. They care not for the larger amounts of greenhouse gases released by their ersatz tar sands oil.
And they hardly give a damn for the people of Alberta. Premier Jason Kenney is their instrument. They fund him. They direct him. They use him.
And they laugh when he challenges the new president of the republic to the south. Joe Biden has said there will be no Keystone XL pipeline bisecting the United States of America. President Biden has said it is not needed. He is hardly responsible for the economy of Alberta.
What is obvious to all is that Jason Kenney is not doing the job he promised Albertans he would do. He has failed to deliver. He has been deceitful in his handling of the pandemic. He has failed to be responsible about climate change. He has failed to bring a reasonable level of diversification to the Alberta economy. He has failed to adjust the tax base of Alberta to the real needs. Kenney is a failed politician.
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Copyright 2021 © Peter Lowry
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