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Spin Cycle: Will all of the oilsands be developed?
Toronto Centre NDP candidate not the only one to suggest some oilsands ‘may have to be left in the ground’
“A lot of the oilsands oil may have to stay in the ground.”
— NDP candidate Linda McQuaig on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics
Alberta’s oilsands seem to always be a contentious issue both nationally and internationally. It was likely only a matter of time before it became a hot topic on the federal campaign trail. Comments by an NDP candidate for the riding of Toronto Centre are causing a stir and putting the spotlight on Alberta’s bitumen.
Linda McQuaig, a well-known author and journalist, told a panel discussion on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics Friday that for Canada to meet its climate change targets much of the oilsands may have to be left in the ground.
The Spin
McQuaig didn’t mention any specific climate change targets that Canada has pledged to achieve, but instead spoke about reaching Canada’s future environmental goals.
“We’ll know that better once we properly put in place a climate change accountability system of some kind,” she told host Rosemary Barton. “And… once we have a proper review process for our environmental projects like pipelines.”
McQuaig later tweeted that “NDP policy is sustainable development, overseen by strong (environmental) review process,” a policy NDP Leader Tom Mulcair expanded upon in response to questions Monday.
The counter-spin
The Conservatives wasted no time in jumping on the NDP and claiming the party wants to shut down the oil industry and introduce new taxes. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper accused the NDP of having a “not-so hidden agenda,” saying it “is consistently against the development of our resources and our economy.”
McQuaig’s comments spurred Michelle Rempel, Conservative candidate for Calgary Nose Hill, to accuse the NDP of proposing a moratorium on the oilsands, which would kill jobs at a time of instability in the oil sector.
Stranded assets?
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Federal election 2015: Choosing the best negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
As politicians score point with loaded sound bites, does it matter if they avoid details?
“You can’t have a debate on such a key issue as the modernization of social programs in 47 days,” Conservative Leader Kim Campbell said during her unsuccessful 1993 election campaign.
The quote, widely interpreted to mean elections are no time for serious issues, was ill-advised. But it seems obvious that Campbell was trying and failing to articulate an absolute truth: that in election campaigns, complexity is washed away in waves of superficial, and often misleading, sound bites.
- Canada’s trade deficit narrows dramatically as exports surge
- Election 215: Mulcair says Harper is “weak and vulnerable” on TPP talks
- Trans-Pacific Partnership hits snag, no deal reached
That’s why in our current election, one of the most crucial issues facing Canadians — trade — is being reduced to caricature. The danger is that instead of a discussion of serious and complex issues, we will end up with a cartoon debate.
‘Oh, yeah?’
We don’t just want Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny taking turns shouting “Oh, yeah?” at each other. But neither do we need to be dragged through the detail of the trade deal. Campbell was right.
Negotiations among 12 nations bordering the Pacific Ocean ended on Friday without a deal, but more meetings are scheduled.
As a regional radio news reporter in Saskatchewan in the 1980s, tasked with making the original Canada-U.S. trade deal comprehensible, I can attest to the fact that sparking interest in the details of a trade deal is a hard sell.
The fact is trade deals are complex, affecting us decades into the future, and not even experts can foresee exactly how. Some of the things that will affect us the most are so nuanced, not to say boring, to
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