Too often, with the federal policies, there's a lack of recognition that there's an affordability crisis that is far more acute for a lot of Canadians right now. I was sort of encouraged to see some recognition of that with this policy. I was sort of encouraged to see a federal leader talk about how “We have policies that have to be adapted to provincial realities.”
What's facing Alberta, as well as Saskatchewan and parts of B.C., is a real threat to our economic future, to our future productivity and to the chances for our children to have the kinds of opportunities that we've had.
It's one thing to brush off a referendum on equalization and say, “Oh, that doesn't matter.” It's another thing to say that you got all the premiers of Canada to agree that Alberta should get a retroactive payment for fiscal stabilization but that you're going to ignore that anyway. These are the kinds of things that cause irritation and make people feel like they're being unfairly treated.
If we go after their main source of income and economic prosperity, it doesn't matter where you are in the country; that is going to put a wedge in our ability to have a united country. When the government is facing such serious debt growth and such long-term deficits, it's unfathomable to me that the biggest contributor to federal income in terms of what it costs them versus what they get from it.... The energy sector in the Prairies is the golden goose. To strangle that without any alternative to replace what it does for the economy, what it does for people's lives, what is does for producing energy, is.... I don't understand it. There really needs to be some serious thought with regard to the long-term effects.