Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program hurt Alberta’s
economy. However, we shouldn’t forget that he also masterminded a package of
constitutional reforms that decisively strengthened the authority of Western
Canadian provinces to develop, regulate, tax, and sell their resources. Justin
Trudeau’s father never used Alberta as shorthand for reactionary rube politics.
It was Jean Chretien who mastered the art of winning power
by isolating Alberta and selling a centralist national vision tailored to serve
the old pretensions and rising anxieties of the east.
His formula is deeply entrenched in his shrinking Liberal
Party.
A couple of years ago, Member of Parliament Justin Trudeau
flattered fellow Quebeckers by reminding them of their larger mission: civilizing Canada.
“There is a way of viewing social
responsibility, openness to others, a cultural pride here in Quebec that is
necessary to Canada.”
And yesterday, Kathleen Wynne, a strong, experienced
candidate for the Liberal Premiership of Ontario, offered her own stolid
Ontario version, a pan Canadian fair deal:
“I think that people have seen
[Premier McGuinty] as a champion of Ontario,” Ms. Wynne told The Globe and Mail
on Tuesday. “What I’d like to do is just expand that to Ontario championing
fairness across the country.”
Whether Liberals are extolling the civilizing presence of
Quebec or Ontario’s magical ideas on how Ontario, along with everyone else, can
get a better share of federal government spending, Westerners can continue to
worry that their money, not their brains, will be part of the solution.
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