Cap-and-trade policy won’t ‘hoover up western resources,’ says Ignatieff
EDMONTON — Any cap-and-trade program created by a potential Liberal government would not move Alberta resources to Eastern Canada, Michael Ignatieff promised at an Edmonton campaign stop Saturday.
The Liberal leader said any climate change policy must be fair among the provinces.
“You work with Alberta, you work with Saskatchewan, you work with resource-based provinces,” he said. “You can’t use a cap-and-trade system to hoover up western resources and transfer them down east. We will not do that. That’s what the NDP plan is.”
Alberta resources should stay in Alberta, he added.
The party has been vague on details of their plan, but cap-and-trade policies in Europe and elsewhere set strict limits for carbon emissions, then allow companies to sell or trade permits among themselves if one of them goes over the limit.
Ignatieff also attacked the federal Conservatives for failing to secure Edmonton’s 2017 Expo bid in what he called “a classic piece of wasted opportunity.
“You bet Edmonton was steamed,” he said. “The Conservatives think they’ve got Alberta in the bag, they don’t have to work for Alberta because they’ve got it in the bag. They just basically stiffed Edmonton.”
He signalled out Edmonton MPs Rona Ambrose and Laurie Hawn in particular for failing to support the bid. “Somebody has to ask these geniuses what they were thinking.”
Earlier in the day, Hawn attacked the Liberal’s cap-and-trade policy, using Twitter to suggest it hasn’t worked elsewhere and calling it a “cap and tax plan.”
Ignatieff also touched on potential federal funding for a new Edmonton arena, but said the Liberals were only interested in funding multi-use facilities, not an NHL-based building.
It was the Liberal leader’s first campaign stop in Alberta, and his first day on the trail with former Prime Minister Paul Martin.
After warming up the crowd with a speech that focused on the economy, Martin introduced Ignatieff at Saturday evening’s rally at the Santa Maria Goretti Centre.
Before a packed house of red shirts and campaign signs, Ignatieff took the stage to blaring rock music.
“You live for hours like this,” he told the crowd.
In a half-hour speech, Ignatieff touched on several Conservative controversies, from the screening of attendees at a Tory rally earlier in the campaign to the treatment of former military ombudsman Pat Stogran last year.
Each issue, he said, builds a larger picture of a “Harper government,” that has replaced the “Government of Canada.”
It was an appreciative crowd, from youth to seniors, that chanted Ignatieff’s name and cheered gustily throughout the speech.
“Now is the time to rise up!” Ignatieff yelled as local candidates stood in a row behind him. “Rise up, rise up. Let us stand together. Let us rise together.”
Earlier, Martin had breakfast with local Liberal candidates, then spent the day with Mary MacDonald, the candidate in Edmonton-Centre who is running against Hawn. Saturday afternoon, the pair hosted a roundtable on youth issues and political engagement.
Martin said Alberta’s Liberal roster is stronger than in elections past and held MacDonald up as a “superb candidate who could hit the ground running.”
Surrounded by teenagers and young adults, Martin said more youth votes in Edmonton would translate to greater Liberal support.
“Youth are looking ahead, as they must. They’re really looking for solutions ahead and are really tired of a national government saying they are not interested in these issues.”
MacDonald also criticized Edmonton’s current MPs, stating that they have let Edmonton become second-class to Calgary when it comes to federal dollars.
While the Calgary Stampede received $5 million to promote itself last year, there was no money for Edmonton events such as the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the failed Expo bid and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, she said.
Both the NDP and Conservative leaders have already made stops in the Edmonton area. NDP Leader Jack Layton kicked off his campaign at the Art Gallery of Alberta on March 26 and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper held a rally in a Beaumont school on March 28.
Green Leader Elizabeth May will be in Edmonton on Monday evening, when she’ll host a costume party and EcoBall with deputy leader Georges Laraque at the Alberta Avenue Theatre.
