B.C. Premier John Horgan was publicly unfriended by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley this week as the pipeline spat/dispute/disagreement/brouhaha continues.
On Tuesday, Premier Notley declined to attend the Western Canadian premiers meeting in Yellowknife, saying she was focusing on the Trans Mountain Pipeline as the May 31 Kinder Morgan-imposed deadline approaches.
“It would be surreal and exceptionally tone deaf for anyone to think we could politely discuss pharmacare and cannabis when one of the players is hard at work trying to choke the economic lifeblood of the province and the country,” Notley said.
The Calgary Herald reports that Horgan had previously said he expected he and Notley would get along fine at the meeting — when she was still going — because they have been friends for 20 years and “agree on many things”.
Here’s where the Notley burn comes in, delivered by Notley’s communications chief Cheryl Oates.
“They are not close friends and never were.They were just acquaintances who happened to work for the same organization (the B.C. NDP).”
Ouch. Feel the burn!
Not only unfriended publicly, but by proxy!
Notley does not know Horgan well enough to even discount his statement of friendship in person. She had him unfriended by staff!
That’s gotta hurt.
It’s kind of the equivalent of breaking up with someone by text.
Notley has also let federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh feel the burn, last fall calling him “absolutely, fundamentally, incontrovertibly wrong” and his pipeline position “irrelevant”. Zing. Singh responded this week by siding with B.C.’s position, after months of straddling both sides of the issue.
Meanwhile, Jason Kenney, the Alberta opposition leader, unable to attack Notley on the pipeline issue, because she is basically doing everything he would do — speaking of burns, that’s got to smart a bit — has tried to grab some attention by insulting Prime Minister Trudeau.
Last week, Kenney was published in a column in the Calgary Sun in which he said Trudeau doesn’t have the foggiest idea what’s going on.
In fact, he said, “I know Justin. He doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. This guy is an empty trust-fund millionaire who has the political depth of a finger bowl,”
Wow. Kenny is invoking the old Danny Williams (former Newfoundland Premier) method of belittling by first name. Williams often showed his contempt for Prime Minister Harper by referring to him as “Steve”.
Kenney also said Trudeau can’t read a briefing note longer than a cocktail napkin.
Ironically, Kenney has been espousing a return to civility in politics. However, he continued to defend his uncivil comments by saying he was asked to comment on Trudeau’s grasp of the pipeline issue and only did so.
How can it be uncivil if it’s true, appears to be his defence.
And whether you think it’s uncivil or not, Kenney doesn’t really have to worry about Alberta voters not liking his comments.
Bashing Trudeau in Alberta is not going to lose you any friends. It’s a go to, a default.
The Yeah But Trudeau deflection, similar to the one employed by President Donald Trump, who, whenever things get hot Tweets/bellows yes, but…. Hillary!
Although Kenney did manage to find a bit of time in his busy Trudeau-bashing schedule to say Notley is hiding out in Edmonton when she should be “facing down Horgan in Yellowknife”.
Is he imagining some sort of High Noon standoff on the streets of Yellowknife? A gunfight at the OK Corral? Is he suggesting she put on a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots and squint her eyes at him, whilst spitting tobacco juice?
Is that what Jason Kenney would do if he was Premier? He’s certainly giving the tough guy act a try.
Is he tough enough to withstand the Notley burn when she decides to respond to him?
