Since Sunday’s release of the Liberal party platform and the non-announcement of a cap-and-trade program, the reaction in Alberta has been sadly predictable. Many people in the province seem to know exactly what will be in this policy, and they know that it will be bad news for Alberta. In fact, the Wild Rose Caucus has declared the policy to be the NEP 2.0, and they are quick to cite a TD-Suzuki-Pembina Institute report which shows that the costs of the particular cap-and-trade implementation they consider would be disproportionately felt in Alberta. The Sun seems to know that the policy will contain adjustments at the border for high-carbon products.
I would love to write a long post in this space and say that they are wrong. I would love to say that this policy will be good for Alberta. I would love to be able to talk about how it recognizes the critical role of Alberta’s energy and resource industries in Canada, and will not seek to disadvantage Alberta (and by extension Canada) to score short term political points. I would love to tell you that it will not place a disproportionately high price on carbon in Canada relative to climate leaders such as the EU. I’d love to say all of that, but I can’t because I simply don’t know what the policy will do because I don’t know what the policy is.