Within hours of taking office, newly elected US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. withdrew the US federal permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, effectively killing the project on the spot. .Biden is of course, likely clueless as to the facts surrounding Keystone. He likely has no idea, nor does he care about the tens of thousands of jobs he just terminated, the financial opportunities for indigenous groups he just destroyed, and the children he just introduced to welfare. .He made this decision simply because he is part of the Democratic Party, which is now at the mercy of eco-extremists, socialists and adherents to the Great Reset program..Biden is advised and supported by these people. He owes them. And the deal was that if they got him elected, he would do their bidding. He has done so. .Instead of slapping retaliatory tariffs on the US as he did when former President Trump placed tariffs on Canadian (mostly Quebec) aluminum, our prime minister decided to put out a press release stating he understood that President Biden had to keep his election promise to cancel Keystone and looks forward to working with him on climate change policy in the future. .The people of Alberta and Saskatchewan should be grateful that their sacrifice of Keystone XL will allow the two liberal leaders to impose greater costs in the name of global warming. .Most in the West now understand that the noose is being tightened around our necks. Between Trudeau’s massive hike to the carbon tax and the death of Keystone, the Alberta and Saskatchewan energy sectors are facing a total and permanent collapse..Of course, there is a way out of this mess. We need Northern Gateway to double and triple exports to Asia, and we need Energy East to supply all of Canada and possibly parts of Europe. We need to diversify from having just one customer south of our border – and an unstable and undependable one at that. .Alberta and Saskatchewan are once more alone. Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney seems lost, not knowing what to do as he has been asking so nicely, and people just keep being so gosh-darn mean to him. Maybe he should just ask nicely again?.Kenney’s calls on Trudeau to impose retaliatory trade sanctions on the US were met with silence by the prime minister, and laughter by the mainstream media. .‘Who does Alberta think they are?’ is the gist of it..The new US president doesn’t consider Alberta-Saskatchewan a diplomatically vital part of Canada, and the Canadian prime minister does not consider them to be worth defending. .If Ottawa won’t place retaliatory sanctions on the US, then the prairie provinces must sanction Ottawa. .What would that look like? .Alberta and Saskatchewan could start by telling the governments of Canada and British Columbia that unless we are provided with full market access for our resources right across the country – including Northern Gateway and Energy East – we will be shutting down all energy supply to British Columbia and restricting goods transported by train and truck through Alberta from BC. .If Manitoba participates, we can impose the same sanctions eastward from there. If not, the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border would be where we draw the line. .Similarly, Alberta could set up check stops along its BC border, and require that every single lumber truck be offloaded for thorough pine beetle inspection. This ‘environmental protection’ measure would have a devastating effect on BC’s forestry industry. .At the same time, Alberta and Saskatchewan should immediately begin withdrawing from the RCMP, CPP and EI, and begin collecting their own taxes. But these measures concerning provincial autonomy should be taken regardless, and not tied to any demands placed on Ottawa. They are good policies in their own right..Economic sanctions are the middle ground between regular diplomacy, and force. They are designed to force governments to respond to demands when diplomacy fails. Canada’s diplomacy was never serious to begin with, and Alberta and Saskatchewan lack the political importance to Ottawa to matter. Our only option now is to make it matter, and force them to act..Or, we can continue to whine about how we are mistreated and beg for fairness. .Kenney has tried whining for a ‘fair deal’ since before he was elected, and has nothing to show for it. .Kenney now has a clear decision to make: accept Alberta as a second-rate colony under the ungrateful boot of Ottawa, or fight back with the tools at his disposal..Rob Anderson is a columnist for the Western Standard
