Students of history know ‘The Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ started over a cup of tea. And the idea that taxation without representation is not only fundamentally flawed, but patently unfair in a democracy. That notion is on display in Massachusetts to this day, where the American Antiquarian Society holds in its collection a vial of actual tea-fused water taken from Boston Harbour in December of 1773, almost exactly 249 years ago.The Canadian Revolution — if there ever is one — will likely stem from the insistence of a non-representative government to impose its own version of a tea tax, except this time on the energy needed to boil the water to make it..In an outrageous breach of protocol that gives the lie to any notion of ‘cooperative federalism’, Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz was reportedly asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement — the same kind used by unscrupulous politicians to pay off porn stars — to find out what was in a policy that has a direct impact on almost a fifth of the population of this country..Or heat your home. The irony must surely be lost on Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault who used the COP28 summit in Dubai — not Parliament — to introduce three new policy planks that amount to taxing Alberta and Saskatchewan with no real representation apart from a pair of parroting cabinet ministers who clearly don’t have their constituents’ best interests at heart.How else to explain Edmonton-Centre MP Randy Boissonnault’s full-throated endorsement of an emissions cap on oil and gas production? It technically isn’t even a tax; the federal cabinet reportedly considered one but balked in favour of a hard curb that carries criminal and legal penalties for non-compliance..Little wonder, given the carbon tax carve-outs for people living in Liberal ridings. In that case, it’s non-taxation with representation if you happened to live in Atlantic Canada and heat your house with home heating oil, which is a step up from bunker fuel and good old coal in terms of carbon intensity.It’s also notwithstanding the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan were actually on the conference floor in Dubai unaware of what was coming down — even though it had been rumoured for weeks leading up to the confab of the planet’s biggest polluting elites.In an outrageous breach of protocol that gives the lie to any notion of ‘cooperative federalism,’ Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz was reportedly asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement — the same kind used by unscrupulous politicians to pay off porn stars — to find out what was in a policy that has a direct impact on almost a fifth of the population of this country..Or what remains of it, if this latest outrage is left to go unchecked. That’s because it’s hard to see how this country can be kept in one piece if this blatant power grab is considered even remotely legal or constitutional.I’ve never personally considered myself a separatist and I never envisioned the day it could be considered a viable alternative to an already tenuous status quo. But there it is for all to see. I’ll say it: I don’t expect people to take to the streets with muskets, but if this government is re-elected in 2025 it will result in the end of Canada as we know it, one way or another. And the Trudeaus, Guilbeaults and Boissonaults will only have themselves to blame.Watching last week’s press conference from Dubai and Ottawa I couldn’t help but notice how glum Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson seemed — like a man who knows his political career is in ruins.By most accounts, Wilkinson is an affable, polite and even pragmatic politician. He drives a hydrogen hot rod and is on board with most of Danielle Smith’s plans to reduce emissions, not production.Even he agrees it makes little sense to shut in Canadian oil only to see it produced by third-world dictatorships with no regard for environmental protection or even human rights.Compare that demeanour to that of Guilbeault, which was downright giddy. Unlike Wilkinson, who was grounded back in Ottawa, Guilbeault is the one who desperately wants to impress those same tyrants such as China’s Xi Jing Ping under the false premise that Canada’s example will change their behaviour.An even more telling moment came at the end of the session. With the cameras still rolling, Boissonnault walked over to the still-seated Wilkinson and gave him a conciliatory pat on the shoulder, as if to thank him for taking one for the team. Wilkinson looked up and shrugged.The audio was off, but the message was clear: ‘We’re doomed.’He could just as easily have said, ‘those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ The more things change…Oh woe, Canada.
Students of history know ‘The Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ started over a cup of tea. And the idea that taxation without representation is not only fundamentally flawed, but patently unfair in a democracy. That notion is on display in Massachusetts to this day, where the American Antiquarian Society holds in its collection a vial of actual tea-fused water taken from Boston Harbour in December of 1773, almost exactly 249 years ago.The Canadian Revolution — if there ever is one — will likely stem from the insistence of a non-representative government to impose its own version of a tea tax, except this time on the energy needed to boil the water to make it..In an outrageous breach of protocol that gives the lie to any notion of ‘cooperative federalism’, Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz was reportedly asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement — the same kind used by unscrupulous politicians to pay off porn stars — to find out what was in a policy that has a direct impact on almost a fifth of the population of this country..Or heat your home. The irony must surely be lost on Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault who used the COP28 summit in Dubai — not Parliament — to introduce three new policy planks that amount to taxing Alberta and Saskatchewan with no real representation apart from a pair of parroting cabinet ministers who clearly don’t have their constituents’ best interests at heart.How else to explain Edmonton-Centre MP Randy Boissonnault’s full-throated endorsement of an emissions cap on oil and gas production? It technically isn’t even a tax; the federal cabinet reportedly considered one but balked in favour of a hard curb that carries criminal and legal penalties for non-compliance..Little wonder, given the carbon tax carve-outs for people living in Liberal ridings. In that case, it’s non-taxation with representation if you happened to live in Atlantic Canada and heat your house with home heating oil, which is a step up from bunker fuel and good old coal in terms of carbon intensity.It’s also notwithstanding the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan were actually on the conference floor in Dubai unaware of what was coming down — even though it had been rumoured for weeks leading up to the confab of the planet’s biggest polluting elites.In an outrageous breach of protocol that gives the lie to any notion of ‘cooperative federalism,’ Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz was reportedly asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement — the same kind used by unscrupulous politicians to pay off porn stars — to find out what was in a policy that has a direct impact on almost a fifth of the population of this country..Or what remains of it, if this latest outrage is left to go unchecked. That’s because it’s hard to see how this country can be kept in one piece if this blatant power grab is considered even remotely legal or constitutional.I’ve never personally considered myself a separatist and I never envisioned the day it could be considered a viable alternative to an already tenuous status quo. But there it is for all to see. I’ll say it: I don’t expect people to take to the streets with muskets, but if this government is re-elected in 2025 it will result in the end of Canada as we know it, one way or another. And the Trudeaus, Guilbeaults and Boissonaults will only have themselves to blame.Watching last week’s press conference from Dubai and Ottawa I couldn’t help but notice how glum Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson seemed — like a man who knows his political career is in ruins.By most accounts, Wilkinson is an affable, polite and even pragmatic politician. He drives a hydrogen hot rod and is on board with most of Danielle Smith’s plans to reduce emissions, not production.Even he agrees it makes little sense to shut in Canadian oil only to see it produced by third-world dictatorships with no regard for environmental protection or even human rights.Compare that demeanour to that of Guilbeault, which was downright giddy. Unlike Wilkinson, who was grounded back in Ottawa, Guilbeault is the one who desperately wants to impress those same tyrants such as China’s Xi Jing Ping under the false premise that Canada’s example will change their behaviour.An even more telling moment came at the end of the session. With the cameras still rolling, Boissonnault walked over to the still-seated Wilkinson and gave him a conciliatory pat on the shoulder, as if to thank him for taking one for the team. Wilkinson looked up and shrugged.The audio was off, but the message was clear: ‘We’re doomed.’He could just as easily have said, ‘those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ The more things change…Oh woe, Canada.
