Oops! Comedy of errors as Kenney takes credit for Bill 12, Rempel claims Trudeau made Notley do it

“NDP Bill 12 is the same type of policy that Hugo Chavez uses to control natural resources in Venezuela.” Chavez died in 2013

Political tensions have been running high for weeks now as Alberta and British Columbia duke it over the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline. Which is why a pair of hilarious tweets from the Alberta Leader of the Official Opposition Jason Kenney and Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel provided much needed comic relief  on social media Tuesday.

A bragging Kenney took credit for Bill 12, which was introduced by the NDP government of Rachel Notley to give Alberta power to restrict petroleum shipments to BC:

As NDP tables Bill 12, reminder that we’ve been calling for this since last summer. And the NDP mocked and belittled our suggestions up until their about-face 5 weeks ago.

Kenney served in the same cabinet with Rempel during the last Stephen Harper government, which makes this comment from her all the more hilarious:

“We do not want a socialist having consolidated power to control Alberta’s natural resources. She’s doing it because of Trudeau. Think about that for a second.”

Is Rempel suggesting the uber-conservative Kenney is a socialist?

She blames Bill 12 on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but the leader of the United Conservative Party is taking credit for the legislation. Which is it?

If only Rempel had followed her own advice and thought for a second before clicking on the send button.

But there’s a second stretcher in that sentence, the part where she complains that “we” don’t want a socialist having “consolidated power over Alberta natural resources.”

Except that Alberta, like all Canadian provinces, enjoys exactly that power by virtue of the Canadian Constitution.

92A.(1) In each province, the legislature may exclusively make laws in relation to

(a) exploration for non-renewable natural resources in the province;

(b) development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province, including laws in relation to the rate of primary production therefrom; and

(c) development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy.

But the MP for Calgary Nose Hills didn’t stop there. Oh, no, she did not:

“NDP Bill 12 is the same type of policy that Hugo Chavez uses to control natural resources in Venezuela.”

Unfortunately for the former Minister of State responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, Chavez died of cancer in 2013.

And if all those faux pas are not enough to make you giggle, consider this: Rempel is a lawyer. [Ed. note. An alert reader informs us Ms. Rempel is not, in fact, a lawyer. Our apologies to her. Nevertheless, a former Canadian cabinet minister should probably know which level of government controls natural resources…and that Hugo Chavez is dead]

If nothing else, the tweets make it hard to take either politician seriously on this issue. Expect their opponents to have a bit of fun at their expense.

Energi News readers certainly will.

Update:

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe piles on the Notley bandwagon. No indication yet where he stands on Chavez.

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