There seems to be only one industry still alive and well in Canada these days: the business of politicking. You don’t have to look very hard to see the politics of politics. Here is a clue; if you sense that the governing party is doing something to gain votes or not doing something because there are no votes to gain, you’re probably witnessing this ridiculous industry at work – and often at the expense of democracy..There is no better example on a federal level than the inaction and trail of hollow gestures toward our decimated oil and gas industry from our righteously cloistered and seemingly bewildered prime minister. He is guided by political operatives who see no seats to gain in Alberta and Saskatchewan, so why throw a lifeline to the nation’s biggest economic engine? And while he’s choking the engine, he gets accolades from the vocal planet warriors who are surely raising a toast to him with their cardboard water box drink type-things. Ontario and Quebec are where the votes and seats are found, so the prairies can suck it up. .This pandemic is giving us a picture of what frozen industry in Canada feels like: jobless families, mental health troubles, bankrupt entrepreneurs, and indebtedness for generations. These are realities and a foretaste of what anti-industry governments can do to the everyday lives of millions. .It was not that long ago that we bailed out a struggling manufacturing automobile sector. The financial crash of 2007 and 2008 hit the automotive industry hard. Plants were threatening closure, jobs were going to leave the country and central Canada’s largest employer was in crisis. Enter the Conservatives. Swiftly they announced and delivered an aid package to help in a time of need. A giant government bailout was announced and delivered in days (all of these jobs were eventually lost anyhow). .I remember as a Westerner standing relieved that a government saw the value of industry and put it front and center in a time of great need, but we also saw the writing on the wall. Future Liberals governments would no doubt love to bail out their friends producing trains, planes and automobiles in Ontario and Quebec, and what would they do for the Prairie oil and gas that power them? Now we know; carbon-taxes, regulatory hurdles, and passivity over rail blockades. .This is where we find ourselves today. The oil and gas industry has been decimated and left without the strong support that federal government have given countless other industries, and layoffs are measured in the thousands. Downtown Calgary was becoming a ghost town before COVID-19 and all we’ve ever heard were crickets from the feds. There was the obligatory presser where our woes were acknowledged and promises were made. The usual grandstanding. But nothing for Canada’s largest industry and solid contributor to the prosperity of the Federation..This, my friends, is politics over principle, and the locals are restless. Anger and resentment are building in the West. Given these economic times, it’s tough to say where it might lead. A true statesman could bring our fine country together at this hour. If only we had one. Sadly, the best advice our perennially quarantined leader can give people-kind is that we should stop speaking moistly. His team will update you on the rest. .Remember when doing the right thing was the right thing to do? When we didn’t have focus groups and phone polls and census info, and we did what just did what needed to be done to keep this country above the waterline in troubled times? It was an informed gut instinct that was shaped by grandpa’s wisdom and working to get the job done. As my Newfoundland friends say, I know it in my knower!.This federal government – more than any before it – is dividing us by choosing politics over principle. So, I offer this invitation: Mr. Trudeau, when it is safe for you to come out of your fine cottage, come and visit us. Not a fly by photo-op; but sit with our families and do for us what you do for other Canadians. We are proud, we can work, and contribute. Right now, Canada needs us. Mr. Trudeau, will you hear us? Will you let us work? Will you bring us together?.The West deserves better. Canada deserves better. .Bruce McAllister is a columnist for the Western Standard, Executive Director Rocky View 2020 & is the former Wildrose and PC MLA for Chestermere-Rockyview
