‘What’s good for me is not for thee’.That was the message from Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet when asked what advice he would give people living in Alberta and Saskatchewan to fight Ottawa’s climate change policies.Both have long deferred to Quebec as a role model for greater autonomy in Canada, especially with respect to constitutional jurisdiction on issues such as pensions, immigration and natural resources.But speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Blanchet told Westerners to suffer as long as they “obsessively” insist on extracting oil and gas.“If they were attempting to create a green state in Western Canada I might be tempted to help them. If they are trying to create an oil state in Western Canada, they cannot expect any help from us,” he said..“I'm not going to position to tell them what to do or not to do. (But) we will keep fighting this idea to obsessively want to extract oil from the ground,” he said.Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.It comes after Saskatchewan stopped collecting the carbon tax on home heating effective January 1 in what critics say is a direct challenge to the basic federal structure of the country — notwithstanding that Quebec has been doing it for decades.Saskatchewan politicians have said that it would not only refuse to collect the tax, it is still deciding whether or not to remit the money it would legally owe to the Canada Revenue Agency under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.If not, the file would then be handed off to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for a determination on whether to prosecute officials with the province’s SaskEnergy Crown corporation, local politicians — or both. Alberta doesn’t enjoy those powers because the power market is deregulated. In any event, both Alberta and Saskatchewan have each passed their version of a so-called ‘Sovereignty Act’ that allows their respective legislatures to ignore any law they deem unconstitutional.It’s essentially what Quebec did in December of 2022 when it unanimously passed Bill 4 that precluded Members of the National Assembly from swearing an oath to King Charles under Section 128 of the Constitution Act.Blanchet agreed it is well within the purview of Alberta and Saskatchewan to strengthen their positions in confederation with respect to Ottawa. But he also said they won’t find moral support as far as the Bloc is concerned.“I'm not going to position to tell them what to do or not to do. (But) we will keep fighting this idea to obsessively want to extract oil from the ground,” he said.
‘What’s good for me is not for thee’.That was the message from Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet when asked what advice he would give people living in Alberta and Saskatchewan to fight Ottawa’s climate change policies.Both have long deferred to Quebec as a role model for greater autonomy in Canada, especially with respect to constitutional jurisdiction on issues such as pensions, immigration and natural resources.But speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Blanchet told Westerners to suffer as long as they “obsessively” insist on extracting oil and gas.“If they were attempting to create a green state in Western Canada I might be tempted to help them. If they are trying to create an oil state in Western Canada, they cannot expect any help from us,” he said..“I'm not going to position to tell them what to do or not to do. (But) we will keep fighting this idea to obsessively want to extract oil from the ground,” he said.Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet.It comes after Saskatchewan stopped collecting the carbon tax on home heating effective January 1 in what critics say is a direct challenge to the basic federal structure of the country — notwithstanding that Quebec has been doing it for decades.Saskatchewan politicians have said that it would not only refuse to collect the tax, it is still deciding whether or not to remit the money it would legally owe to the Canada Revenue Agency under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.If not, the file would then be handed off to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for a determination on whether to prosecute officials with the province’s SaskEnergy Crown corporation, local politicians — or both. Alberta doesn’t enjoy those powers because the power market is deregulated. In any event, both Alberta and Saskatchewan have each passed their version of a so-called ‘Sovereignty Act’ that allows their respective legislatures to ignore any law they deem unconstitutional.It’s essentially what Quebec did in December of 2022 when it unanimously passed Bill 4 that precluded Members of the National Assembly from swearing an oath to King Charles under Section 128 of the Constitution Act.Blanchet agreed it is well within the purview of Alberta and Saskatchewan to strengthen their positions in confederation with respect to Ottawa. But he also said they won’t find moral support as far as the Bloc is concerned.“I'm not going to position to tell them what to do or not to do. (But) we will keep fighting this idea to obsessively want to extract oil from the ground,” he said.
