Is Ottawa both Jason Kenney’s benefactor and his political straw man?
The Trudeau Liberals sprayed the money hose everywhere in 2020 but lent oil country particular support. Yet, in 2021, Kenney still plans to pursue many of his pre-pandemic provocations and retrenchments against Ottawa.
December 10, 2020 Alberta enters the new year with a swagger, pursuing provocations and retrenchments promised in the aftermath of Justin Trudeau’s re-election (Jeff McIntosh/CP)
A mid-year fiscal update showed Alberta getting uncomfortably close to levels of reliance on the federal government not seen since the grim old days of the 1980s oil slump.
No, despite its battered economy, the province wasn’t getting equalization, the welfare program for have-not provinces that has long been a whipping boy for folks there. Alberta was, however, projected to barely collect more provincial income tax than it would federal transfers and that was before the extra spending Ottawa kicked in this summ