With people like Clark as a friend, who needs enemies?

During Alberta’s current economic downturn there’s not much to be cheerful about. While the province goes through a painful adjustment process with oil prices hovering at or just beneath $30 a barrel, there is lots to consider. What did we as a province do wrong? What can we do better in the future? How do we mitigate the harshest effects over the short to medium term so the province bounces back even stronger?
All valid questions which call for some deep soul-searching and debate on the part of provincial residents, industries and government ministries.
But what we decidedly do not need is people from outside this province dumping garbage all over us while we are down. BC’s Premier Christy Clark knifed Alberta in the back in her government’s throne speech on Feb. 10, basically saying Alberta as a province amounted to a failed state due to the reckless spending of current and past governments. She continued to twist the knife in deeper last week with a back-hand slap calling Alberta a “friend,” but not a good example for her province’s residents.
Well Clark, with friends like you who needs enemies? Don’t do us any favours.
In fact, you can place your lips firmly on the buttocks of one of our bullocks and give it a peck. This is cattle country afterall. We can arrange the photo op tomorrow or whenever you like.
If recollection serves, it was you wasn’t it who basically nixed the Northern Gateway Pipeline a few years back because your province was going through a miserable downturn and you wanted to get your grubby little hands on all that plush Alberta oil money to help your own despair? No qualms about Alberta back then. You wanted a piece of the action yourself, and when you didn’t get it (something you had no right to, in fact) you threw a hissy fit and said you would block Alberta’s chance to achieve some measure of direct market access for its oil resources.
You are no friend of Alberta, Clark. Never have been. You are the hippy dippy neighbour we’ve got to live beside is all, and put up with, because we in Alberta have a few manners; unlike you. But don’t expect any invites over for barbecue.
When Alberta re-emerges stronger than ever before in a few years time, you Clark will still be the backstabbing head of a rubber stamp legislature which only sits about two weeks a year. In Alberta we at least know how to earn our paychecks and do something other than fleece the rubes by fostering a fictitious real estate bubble economy while all other industries decay and crumble under the weight of the institutional incompetence that is the BC government. The longstanding economic policy of BC basically amounts to one big provincial sized Ponzi scheme. And you dare preach about seeing to economic fundamentals? Pshaw.
If you think Alberta’s fall has been hard, you just wait and see what BC has coming. Let’s see you throw your stones then while your glass house crumbles around you.

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