If a legal precedent was set that B.C. has so much control over their province and their natural resources, that they can stop a federally approved pipeline, that could also mean Saskatchewan can stop a federally approved carbon tax.
The Americans, in the aftermath of their 1776 revolution and the Civil War, were put in a position twice where they had to figure out the proper balance of state rights versus federal control over those states.
I don鈥檛 think Canada has had as much experience with this topic, but I know that a carbon tax in Saskatchewan would be devastating, and other provinces that have mixed sources of revenue are more adept to handle a carbon tax. Saskatchewan is not.
Apparently pipelines are federal jurisdiction and imposing a carbon tax is not, at least legally that is what a lot of people have been saying. Unfortunately, politics affects judges and the law when it comes to big issues like a carbon tax or a pipeline.
If the law was to be followed, most of the protestors in British Columbia would have been arrested a long time ago, and water canons would have been utilized to prevent further construction delays.
If the law was to be followed, no matter how much wining and appeasement to environmentalists B.C did, the pipeline would be nearly finished by now with Kinder Morgan ready to move onto their next investment project.
Both these things are not true for two reasons. Firstly Canadian courts traditionally compromise to the middle with everyone walking away with something but not everything. Secondly, some judges have their own political beliefs and are happy for things to become so messed up and complicated that they never have to make an actual decision. 聽
Canada鈥檚 relationship with our energy sector is a yes/no relationship, meaning one day yes, you can build a pipeline, and the next day no, you can鈥檛, and it goes on like that forever until no one invests in Canada anymore.
In the eyes of the public, if British Columbia is forced to have a pipeline they don鈥檛 want, but Saskatchewan is allowed to reject a Carbon Tax they don鈥檛 want that is going to look very unfair and what the public thinks and what they see is all that matters, because they are the ones that vote.
No one ever learns from their mistakes unless they actually make them. Sometimes those mistakes have to be made multiple times before a lesson is learned.
I think provincial jurisdiction should supersede that of the federal government. The reason is if B.C wants to cripple their economy by being anti-business and pro-environment, and if Saskatchewan wants to do the opposite, that means everyone gets to learn from their actions and that is a good thing.
Additionally, the Liberals鈥� carbon tax is the literal implementation of John Maynard Keynes鈥� economic philosophy. Keynes was an economist during the years of the two world wars and his idea of a healthy economy was entirely based upon government spending.
For example, hiring people to break windows so those who fix them can have a job is a good idea, according Keynes.
That way of thinking is absolutely destructive to any economy and if the New Democratic Party in B.C. had a majority right now, they might take things a few steps further than the Liberals鈥� carbon tax.
If provinces can have power over themselves, that means if they make a bad mistake, they will have to learn from it, and it also means that Ottawa can鈥檛 force provinces to act against their own rational self-interest by forcing them, for example, to shut down their coal-fired power plants or unfairly tax them through the equalization program.
If pipelines exist for tax revenue and wealth generation, there are other ways to have a healthy economy than fighting over pipelines.
For example, cutting taxes, privatizing services, cutting taxes for companies based on how many people they hire, ending support for non-essential government services and letting people have a $30,000 tax free savings account are a few things that would generate as much wealth as a couple pipelines.
That may up being the option the government takes down the road, because if Kinder Morgan falls apart, I really don鈥檛 see anyone else wanting to build pipelines in Canada.聽
