The UCP alleged Airdrie-Cochrane NDP candidate Shaun Fluker supported the federal government against Alberta’s Supreme Court challenge of Bill C-69 — the so-called ‘no more pipelines act’ — at hearings in Ottawa in March.. Shaun FlukerShaun Fluker, NDP candidate for Airdrie-Cochrane. .In fact, he did more than that and argued in favour of it, according to legal filings from the Supreme Court itself. .Fluker was one of three representatives from the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Law Clinic who intervened at the nation’s highest court on behalf of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) on March 21..In it, the federal government asked the SCOC to overrule an Alberta Court of Appeal ruling that the 2019 Impact Assessment Act violates sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act guaranteeing provinces' authority over natural resources, calling it a “wrecking ball” and a “Trojan horse” to allow the federal government to unlawfully infringe on provincial jurisdiction. .“Alberta’s economic wellbeing, and the employment and prosperity of its population, are dependent on its ability to sustainably manage and develop its natural resources, and in particular its oil and gas resources,” Alberta’s attorney general stated in written filings..That position was supported by nine of 10 provinces including Alberta, along with native and First Nations groups..On behalf of CAPE, Fluker and his team put forward an argument supporting Justin Trudeau’s intrusion into provincial jurisdiction. .“Rachel Notley and the NDP cannot hide their record of destroying our energy sector,” Airdrie-Cochrane UCP candidate Pete Guthrie said in a release. “If Rachel Notley supported oil and gas, why would she recruit a candidate who supports Trudeau’s 'no more pipelines' act? Their disdain for the energy sector has never been more clear.”. Peter GuthrieUCP Airdrie-Cochrane candidate Peter Guthrie. .For her part, Notley claims at NDP rallies she will stand up for Alberta’s energy sector, pointing to her former government’s support of the Trans Mountain expansion to Burnaby. Western Standard reached out for comment, but received no reply..But it’s just the latest in a series of anti-oil positions and rhetoric from individual NDP candidates..Livingstone-Macleod NDP candidate Kevin Van Tighem compared oil and gas workers to slaves and the industry to slavery in his book Wild Roses are Worth It: Reimagining the Alberta Advantage. Van Tighem also called Albertans “angry entitled rednecks” and stated “oil sucks and we’re the suckers.”.The Western Standard has reached out to the NDP for comment.
