Memories of Pierre Trudeau’s attack on Alberta have not lost their sting after more than four decades. “Remember the National Energy Program” could almost be the Alberta battle cry equivalent to “remember the Alamo” in Texas..Trudeau was certainly the ringleader in the pillaging of Alberta’s oil resources during the 1970s and early 1980s. But what is not so well remembered is that he had notable accomplices. Prominent among those accomplices was Bill Davis, the Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario..During the “energy wars” of the 1970s, the Progressive Conservative government of Ontario was one of Alberta’s central Canadian enemies. This is because Ontarians felt entitled to Alberta’s energy resources at well-below world prices. And indeed, Pierre Trudeau’s government mandated such low prices for central Canada at Alberta’s expense..But Alberta premier Peter Lougheed fought valiantly against Trudeau’s discriminatory energy policies, with overwhelming support from the province’s citizens..Ontarians did not like that. They were outraged that Albertans expected to be treated as equals within Canada..For example in his 1979 book, Mandate for Canada, University of Toronto professor John Crispo wrote: “Quebec is far from the only threat to the unity of this country. Indeed, at times Alberta appears to be an even greater menace to Confederation. At least, Quebec can claim to fear for the loss of its original culture and language. All Alberta seems to care about is control over its resources.”.It’s certainly true Alberta cared about control over its resources. After all, it was being looted by the federal government, and the proceeds were being distributed — in the form of subsidized energy prices — to central Canadians like Prof. Crispo!.Oil prices began skyrocketing towards the end of 1973 as a result of war in the Middle East. By the following year, Ontario was already demanding prices substantially below market value for Alberta’s oil..As Claire Hoy notes in his 1985 book, Bill Davis: A Biography, Premier Davis was requesting that “part of such huge profits from domestic oil should be used to benefit all Canadians, not just the oil-producing provinces.”.But when an Ontario premier refers to “all Canadians,” he usually means the inhabitants of the St. Lawrence River valley..Of course, Lougheed opposed Davis’s position. When he rejected an Ontario proposal during negotiations over oil pricing, Hoy writes that Ontario Treasurer Frank Miller called Lougheed “a greater threat to Confederation than Quebec’s René Lévesque.” That was a nasty shot because Lévesque was a full-fledged separatist..David Wood, in his 1985 book, The Lougheed Legacy, adds important details about this conflict. Premier Davis essentially declared “open war” on Alberta when he released an official Ontario government document entitled Oil Pricing and Security: A Policy Framework for Canada on August 15, 1979. As Wood points out, “Its proposals were incredibly offensive not just to the Lougheed government but to all Albertans.”.In this document, the Ontario government claimed to have as much right to set oil pricing in Canada as the federal government..But that wasn’t even the worst of it. As Wood explains, “The Davis document recommended closing Alberta’s Heritage Fund and shifting new money from provincial royalties into the federal treasury.” Read that again: Ontario wanted Alberta’s oil royalties — the birthright of every Alberta citizen — to be confiscated by the federal government! This was a brazen attack on Alberta’s constitutional rights — not by Pierre Trudeau — but by Premier Davis of Ontario..Was Davis a premier or a pirate?.As Lougheed recognized, “Ontario’s position was a clear attempt to change the basic concept of Confederation in a particularly objectionable way by altering the natural resource ownership rights of provinces only with respect to oil and natural gas, leaving intact a province’s ownership rights over such things as forest products, nickel, water power, and pulp and paper.”.In other words, the natural resources of Ontario would remain in Ontario’s hands but Alberta’s oil and gas resources would be confiscated for the benefit of — you guessed it — “all Canadians.”.As Wood explains, Davis could boost his popularity at home by telling Ontarians “that oil and natural gas were national commodities belonging to all Canadians, and telling eastern manufacturers they should always be able to enjoy cheaper energy (meaning only oil and natural gas).”.In 1980, of course, Pierre Trudeau was re-elected as prime minister and began his most aggressive assault on Alberta’s resources with the National Energy Program. He received considerable electoral support in Ontario and overwhelming support in Quebec..While attacking Alberta, Trudeau knew he wouldn’t have any opposition from Bill Davis’s Ontario government. After all, Davis and crew wanted to plunder Alberta’s energy resources just as eagerly as Trudeau himself..That conflict is long past, but political power is still concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. As a result, while it remains part of this country, Alberta will be at the mercy of central Canada. That’s not a safe place to be.
