Vive la différence.Alberta Premier Danielle Smith found some unlikely support for her stance against the federal carbon tax on Thursday: the Bloc Québécois.In testimony to the House government operations and estimates committee, it was almost a mutual admiration society when it came to her efforts to stand up to federal climate policies, especially the carbon tax.Under questioning from Bloc members over the financial impacts of the carbon tax, Smith seemed a little taken back when she was asked by Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — en Francaise — about the invocation of the Sovereignty Act..“So it’s an inspiration for you, Quebec?”Bloc MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay.After fumbling with her French-English translator, a voice with a distinctly British-tinged accent came through loud and clear: “You enacted a novel sovereignty act and as a member of the Bloc Québécois I'm quite sympathetic to that notion. I'm fighting for the complete independence of my nation and I want to know what motivated you was, what was the root cause of this?” he asked.“Is it because the Constitution was being flouted with the spending encroaching on your ears of jurisdiction? What kind of interference prompted you to do this?”Smith dutifully replied..“If you read the Alberta Sovereignty Within the United Canada Act, so I don't share your aspiration on separation. We just believe that the Constitution should be abided.”Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.“Mostly, it's been the various legal actions we've had to take against the federal government. We've had a victory on it, Impact Assessment Act, which you know, as Bill C-69, we had success initially on the declaration of plastics being toxic, also deemed to be unconstitutional. We have about 14 different actions that we are going to be taking against the federal government for various ways in which they're interfering with our jurisdiction.”.Savard-Tremblay seemed genuinely pleased.“I know that we don't necessarily share the same upper aspirations. We didn't sign the Constitution in Quebec, (but) at the very least we'd like to be upheld, that would be at least something.” An almost blushing Smith replied: “If you read the Alberta Sovereignty Within the United Canada Act, so I don't share your aspiration on on separation. We just believe that the Constitution should be abided.”And then she added some gushing words for Quebec Premier Francois Legault. “And in one way, we've been inspired by Quebec by your premier in some of the policies that he has established to establish guardrails around provincial jurisdiction.” She then invites Quebec to work with Alberta to define the roles of the federal government under Section 95 of the Constitution Act.Again, more niceties.“So, it’s an inspiration for you, Quebec?”Mais oui.
Vive la différence.Alberta Premier Danielle Smith found some unlikely support for her stance against the federal carbon tax on Thursday: the Bloc Québécois.In testimony to the House government operations and estimates committee, it was almost a mutual admiration society when it came to her efforts to stand up to federal climate policies, especially the carbon tax.Under questioning from Bloc members over the financial impacts of the carbon tax, Smith seemed a little taken back when she was asked by Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay — en Francaise — about the invocation of the Sovereignty Act..“So it’s an inspiration for you, Quebec?”Bloc MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay.After fumbling with her French-English translator, a voice with a distinctly British-tinged accent came through loud and clear: “You enacted a novel sovereignty act and as a member of the Bloc Québécois I'm quite sympathetic to that notion. I'm fighting for the complete independence of my nation and I want to know what motivated you was, what was the root cause of this?” he asked.“Is it because the Constitution was being flouted with the spending encroaching on your ears of jurisdiction? What kind of interference prompted you to do this?”Smith dutifully replied..“If you read the Alberta Sovereignty Within the United Canada Act, so I don't share your aspiration on separation. We just believe that the Constitution should be abided.”Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.“Mostly, it's been the various legal actions we've had to take against the federal government. We've had a victory on it, Impact Assessment Act, which you know, as Bill C-69, we had success initially on the declaration of plastics being toxic, also deemed to be unconstitutional. We have about 14 different actions that we are going to be taking against the federal government for various ways in which they're interfering with our jurisdiction.”.Savard-Tremblay seemed genuinely pleased.“I know that we don't necessarily share the same upper aspirations. We didn't sign the Constitution in Quebec, (but) at the very least we'd like to be upheld, that would be at least something.” An almost blushing Smith replied: “If you read the Alberta Sovereignty Within the United Canada Act, so I don't share your aspiration on on separation. We just believe that the Constitution should be abided.”And then she added some gushing words for Quebec Premier Francois Legault. “And in one way, we've been inspired by Quebec by your premier in some of the policies that he has established to establish guardrails around provincial jurisdiction.” She then invites Quebec to work with Alberta to define the roles of the federal government under Section 95 of the Constitution Act.Again, more niceties.“So, it’s an inspiration for you, Quebec?”Mais oui.
