Chrystia Freeland: deputy prime minister of Canada and minister of finance
Bill Morneau, former finance minster, was a supporter of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, but now that he has resigned, it puts the project in question, as it does the other pipelines too.
Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister has replaced him. Her view seem to be more aligned with Trudeau’s. In his pre-election promises, many of them included a greener economy, with a reduction in emissions and pollution.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc met with the new Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Premier Andrew Furey, on August 20, to discuss their oil and gas problems. Like Alberta, this sector makes up a fair portion of the GDP at 25.7%.
Troubling still, is the millions more Muskrat Falls will cost the province, which has become a real boondoggle for the province. Mr LeBlanc suggested this wouldn’t interfere with Canada’s commitments to fight climate change, but this is the same old tirade the federal Liberals have been touting out since they were elected in 2015. It’s amounted to very little other than lip service.
In Alberta, where oil gas and mining is around 27.4% of the provincial GDP, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been getting comfortable with how the money and support has been flowing from the federal government. He has pipelines moving, and coal mines popping up along the eastern slopes of the Rockies.
The Alberta Energy Regulator board was dismissed last Fall for “gross mismanagement and waste of public resources, and critical failures of board oversight and management override of internal controls.” Mr. Kenney’s campaign manager and climate denier, John Weissenberger, is the new vice president, with Laurie Pushor as chief executive officer. Neither of the appointments are inspire trust from the general public, but social licensing, of any kind, is of little concern to Mr. Kenney. He wants the economy churning out money and fossil fuel jobs. Making protesting illegal means he’s bothered with fewer complaints.
The common denominator neither of these two premiers counted on was Chrystia Freeland being appointed minister of finance. In her role as deputy prime minister, she was responsible for handling western alienation. She grew up in Alberta and has an understanding of this issue. She is a huge advocate for human rights world wide, and she has performed superbly at every challenge she has been handed.
She will have an understanding of how the poor have had to live in pollution and how these communities have been marginalized with no-one to speak for them. She will be well aware of the health affects oil, gas, and coal have imposed on these people and how it has affected the health of the world’s population. She will be more attuned to Trudeau’s vision of creating a greener recovery than Mr. Morneau was. He is more of a capitalist and was more apt to direct funds, unaligned with the prime minister’s vision.
Her words are inspiring. Her views are less myopic than those of the former minister. She has global working experience and is an international communicator. It may be too early to feel hopeful, but her contribution to Canada’s economy and recovery will not be insignificant.
