Ottawa

Politics on TV: Tankers, Redford, and pre-budget madness

The three things you need to see

Here are the three things you should not have missed:

  1. Joe Oliver on new rules for oil tankers
  2. Alison Redford on Mulcair and Keystone XL
  3. MPs on pre-budget positioning

New oil tanker rules:

Power Play spoke with Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver about his announcement of new “world class” rules for oil tankers. Oliver said that there hasn’t been a major spill from a tanker on the west coast, but they need to keep up with technology, and that the bill would mandate improvements to navigational system, tanker surveillance, aerial surveillance, money for science and technology, and the creation of an appointment of expert panel to look at oil and gas transport. In reaction, Megan Leslie said that Oliver just admitted that all of the government’s environmental legislation has to do with resource development and not protecting the environment. Elizabeth May noted that there haven’t been super-tankers on the northern coast of BC thanks to the existing moratorium, while these new rules open that up by stealth.

Alison Redford:

Power & Politics spoke with Alberta premier Alison Redford, who was in town today to talk to the Economic Club of Canada, and who hit back against comments that Thomas Mulcair made on his trip to Washington. Redford said that it was necessary to understand the importance of the future of the energy economy, especially if Mulcair wants money for his social spending plans. Redford said that the half-page ad in the New York Times, at a $30,000 price tag, was about correcting the misinformation around the science of the oilsands that is playing on people’s emotions. Redford said she wants the discussion to be factual on Alberta’s environmental record, their price on carbon, and emissions targets for 2020 and 2050. On Power Play, Redford also introduced her province’s new representative in Ottawa, Alan Ross.

Pre-budget positioning:

After the NDP launched a pre-budget campaign dubbed “Real things for real people,” Terry Milewski hosted an MP panel of Mark Adler, Peggy Nash, and Scott Brison to discuss their positions. Nash said that the Conservatives were pulling the numbers they are attacking the NDP with out of thin air, and described her party’s plan as being about switching priorities as opposed to an alternative budget, and she avoided Milewski’s questions about the costs. Adler touted the government’s announcements and projects, similarly ignoring an increasingly impatient Milewski’s attempts to get specifics. Brison spoke about the youth unemployment crisis, and the unaddressed issues around training, but said that the government’s goal of balancing the budget by 2015 was a political objective rather than a realistic economic one.

Worth Noting:

  • CBC’s Laura Payton spoke about how Chief Electoral Officer Mark Mayrand gave Peter Penashue until March 4th to clean up his election records lest he be objected from the Commons.

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