dailynewsnblog
While we wait for the game on Thursday night, enjoy my favourite NFB video in all time,
The maybe pipeline
Following up on yesterday’s post about whether British Columbia deserves to feel aggrieved over Carney’s dealings with Alberta, I decided to compare what was being reported in the BC newspapers on Wednesday, with the reporting in the Globe and Mail and in Alberta papers:
Prime Minister Mark Carney came to Vancouver on Wednesday to begin negotiations with Premier David Eby on B.C.’s priorities for his nation-building agenda, although their agreement to do so did not resolve the premier’s opposition to the idea of a new bitumen pipeline from Alberta to B.C.’s north coast.
Before meeting with Carney at his government’s Vancouver cabinet offices, Eby noted the federal moratorium on oil tanker traffic off the north coast remains a “crucially important” condition for First Nations and many British Columbians….
Vancouver Province
Prime Minister Mark Carney said there is momentum behind his nation-building agenda after receiving criticism from British Columbia Premier David Eby over the possible construction of a pipeline to his province’s coast.
“What we’re trying to accomplish, and I think we’re really getting momentum now across the country, is we don’t want to hear what people are against, we want to hear what they’re for,” said Carney, during a Q&A in front of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Wednesday.
…During his speech, Carney said any potential pipeline will have to give substantial financial and economic benefits for British Columbia and must fully respect duty to consult under Section 35 of the constitution.
….Carney also highlighted the role the West Coast province will play in his government’s economic agenda, including in critical minerals, electricity, artificial intelligence and liquefied natural gas.
“When we master energy, we master our destiny,” he told the business audience….
Globe and Mail
As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads into negotiations with B.C. Premier David Eby over the province’s economic priorities, he cautioned that debate over a contentious new pipeline cannot go on indefinitely.
The two leaders held a closed-door meeting in Vancouver on Wednesday, shortly after the Prime Minister spoke at a breakfast for business leaders, where he touted his government’s plans to expand critical minerals mining and liquid natural gas projects in B.C.
The Prime Minister also discussed the proposed new pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to B.C.’s North Coast, which has rankled environmentalists and some Indigenous leaders. An agreement signed last week between Ottawa and Alberta would see construction of the project begin as early as next year, despite there being no agreed route and no private proponent.
While Ottawa will “adjust to what people want,” on the pipeline and other projects, Mr. Carney said his government doesn’t “want to hear what people are against, we want to hear what they’re for.”
“If things get stalled [in B.C.], we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country because we need to move forward,” Mr. Carney said….
The Edmonton Journal doesn’t mention the Eby-Carney meeting at all.
Neither do the Calgary papers.
…The Financial Post, in partnership with the Calgary Herald, sought to answer some of those rarely considered questions about oil pipelines that may not normally make headlines. How do they actually work? Why do they move so slowly? And how do they get around mountains?…
That one is pretty good reading, actually.
The maybe war
In his midweek Iran update, Phillips O’Brien writes:
…I suppose it is a good thing that Trump has not lost all sense. The problem is, that his desire to restart military action and then his last minute backing off shows a few things that are very worrying for the USA. I would list them as:
-The US Government does now understand that the blockade will take much longer to work than Trump originally claimed. As far as I know, no Iranian oil wells have exploded because of the blockade. Yes, the Iranian government will undoubtedly be faced by an economic problem, but that is not going to have them immediately bend the knee and Trump seems to get that.
-The US Government seems to understand that restarting bombing will stand only a very small chance of achieving any of Trump’s strategic aims—especially his big one which is to get a concession on the nuclear question enough to say he got a better deal than Obama under the JCPOA. If Trump believed that there would be any reasonable chance to achieve anything by bombing, he would take that risk. Clearly the odds are judged to be not high.
-The markets no longer react to the President’s claims of possible success. For once the oil markets took Trump’s claims for the BS that they are. The price of oil … had a tiny fall on May 18 when Trump tweeted, but immediately rose back to the level it was before he spoke. The fall did not last long enough for insider traders to cash in.
There we have it. Trump threatened military action, blinked again, and we are exactly where we have been for 7 weeks, with now the administration’s ability to impact the markets having eroded. While the Iranian government is probably suffering economically, the Iranian military has had more time to regroup and reorganize, which means it could do more damage if the US eventually restarts action.
It is a mess.
The actual war
Here’s an interesting addition to my post yesterday on the Ukraine War
Inept Alberta separatism
And this is horrible
Israel’s navy intercepted an activist flotilla in waters off Cyprus on Monday, halting the group’s latest effort to challenge a blockade of Gaza.
More than 50 vessels departed from the port in Marmaris, Turkey, last week in what the organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla described as the final leg of their planned journey to Gaza’s shores to draw attention to the grim conditions for Palestinians living in the war-battered territory.
The organization’s livestream showed activists, including 12 Canadians, aboard several vessels putting on life-jackets and raising their hands before a boat carrying Israeli troops approached. Wearing tactical gear, the troops boarded the ship, and the livestream abruptly ended. Many of the ships are currently off the coast of Cyprus.
Other footage showed Israeli forces on speedboats approaching and instructing the activists to move to the front of the boat. At least 17 boats were intercepted in the first three hours of the operation, according to Global Sumud Flotilla’s tracker.
The flotilla interceptions occurred outside Cypriot territorial waters. Israeli authorities had not asked for any assistance in the interception, according to a Cypriot official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Israel notified Cyprus that all people aboard the intercepted flotilla boats are in good health, the official said….
Yeah.
There’s a gag limit and all of Canada has reached it now:
Canada is in good company:
