Entitled Calgary byelection should rise above old quarrels, her piece skewers the sensitivity of souls that take such umbrage over comments offering criticism of the oil-rich province which, in my post yesterday I described as our version of Israel (criticize at your peril.)
Mallick offers, among many others, the following observation:
Albertans know perfectly well they haven’t had a premier worthy of their province since Peter Lougheed left office. Ontario had the same problem. Recall Don Getty, Ralph Klein, Frank Miller, Ed Stelmach, Mike Harris, Ernie Eves. What a roll call of sophisticates.
Her thesis is that the recently uttered and earthed criticisms of Alberta offered by David McGuinty and Justin Trudeau, respectively, are justified, and that, of course, the reaction of the Harperites is strictly political, given the closeness of the impending by-election in Calgary-Centre.
In proof, she offers the following:
Alberta, a famously lucky and beautiful province, mismanaged its oil and its tar and allowed itself to be bullied by multinationals for a handful of coins compared to what Norway, for example, a tiny country of five million people, demanded for its offshore oil. As Alberta caved, Norway grew stubborn.
That’s why Norway’s savings account will hit a trillion dollars this decade. Alberta has $15.9 billion in a piggy bank its mom broke open years ago. Will it even be doubled by 2020?
Mallick has much more to say, including an excoriation of the Liberals' grovelling apologies after McGuinty's 'misstep.' I hope you will take a few moments to savour the entire column.
Besides saving for a rainy day, Lorne, Lougheed wanted the oil to fuel a manufacturing economy. He knew that finished goods contributed more to an economy than raw resources.
ReplyDeleteHe was much smarter than any of Alberta's -- or Ontario's -- recent premiers.
And to add to the list, Owen, smarter than that master of economics, Stephen Harper.
ReplyDelete