Oil and gas above all else, but at what cost?

Whether it’s been conversations around tariffs or demands for our new Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is putting oil and gas first. But who does this really help?

I get it, Alberta is the land of oil and gas. That’s central to a lot of Alberta’s identity. But Albertans are facing far more pressing issues that don’t revolve around the oil and gas industry. Health care, housing, and the cost-of-living are top of mind for Albertans, but that’s clearly not the case for Smith. It would seem Smith is blind to everything else.

When it came to conversations around tariffs, which are still ongoing, Smith lobbied for exemptions for oil and gas exports. And she maybe got a little bit of what she wanted. United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump said he will implement 10 per cent tariffs on oil and gas imports, opposed to the 25 per cent on all other Canadian goods. 

A win is a win, however, there is more to Alberta and Canada as a whole than just oil and gas. Prices of groceries, namely, are likely to go up as we enter a trade war. But you don’t see Smith fighting tooth and nail for our agriculture sector. China has put 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian canola. Where is Smith on that?

Following a meeting with Carney, Smith issued a list of demands for the federal government. All of these demands had something to do with oil and gas. Not housing, not cost-of-living, not anything else. Not even tariffs. And if the federal government doesn’t agree to her every whim, there’ll be a “national unity crisis.” As if she’s been united with the rest of Canada and the federal government previously.

Her demands to repeal policies aimed at reducing emissions also blatantly ignores the encroaching effects of climate change. Just last summer a wildfire burned down a third of Jasper. Various other communities faced evacuations starting in May and the entire province was blanketed in smoke. While Carney announced $187 million to help rebuild Jasper, Smith gave no thanks for that. Instead she just played the blame game with the federal government, per usual. 

But it also seems like nothing will ever be enough for Smith. She was staunchly against the consumer carbon tax and Carney has repealed it. But that’s not good enough for her. Evidently, Smith would like to see the industrial tax repealed too, despite the fact that companies contributing to pollution can almost definitely afford to pay it. As polarizing as the carbon tax has been, I don’t understand how pushing the government to stop giving Albertans a quarterly rebate cheque helps. Especially in a cost-of-living crisis. 

Smith is also trying to pass a bill that would block federal employees from accessing emissions data. While there’s debate around whether Smith can actually do this, I think there’s a larger issue here. Smith is focused on the wrong “enemy.” The federal government, while Alberta doesn’t always agree with, is not the one set on destroying our economy. That would be Trump. Yet she seems to be friendlier and less combative with Trump than the federal government.

If Smith wants to keep fighting with the federal government at every turn, she could at least fight over what matters most to people right now. Or at least expand her narrow focus. Sure, Albertans care about oil and gas. But Smith and the government need to fight for Albertans — not just oil and gas.