A year before B.C. joined Canada in 1871, the eccentric future premier Amor de Cosmos pronounced: "I stand here not as a Canadian, but as a British Columbian. My allegiance is due first to British Columbia."
De Cosmos, a Nova Scotia-born newspaperman who changed his name from William Smith while living in California, was a champion of B.C.-Canada unity. He was speaking in favour of a B.C.'s successful demand for a sweetheart financial deal and a commitment from Ottawa to build a trans-continental railroad.
Many other de Cosmos successors took B.C.-first stands, most famously W.A.C. (Wacky) Bennett from 1952 to 1972 and, in the 1990s, the New Democratic Party's pugnacious Glen Clark, who forced the federal government to expropriate B.C. land in response to Clark's threat to close a military base.
So Christy Clark is comfortably consistent with West Coast political culture by arguing that B.C. needs major pledges -- including a fat financial payoff -- before agreeing to pipelines proposed by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan from Alberta to the B.C. coast.
Her position, and the likelihood that she'll be replaced by the NDP's Adrian Dix (Glen Clark's former chief of staff) next spring, signal an end to the decade of federal-provincial detente brought in by former premier Gordon Campbell in 2001, say analysts.
"It appears that the Campbell years were somewhat of an exception to the relationship of British Columbia and Canada," says University of B.C. historian Bob McDonald.
He said the federal and Alberta governments, and the Alberta energy industry, have mishandled the Northern Gateway file because they don't grasp B.C.'s political culture.
"British Columbia has always been a bit of an outlier in the country," McDonald said, pointing to the public's entrenched environmental concerns, the different history of Crown-first nations relations, and the psychological impact of the mountains separating the province from the rest of Canada.
"B.C.'s still outside the mainstream, and I think Harper's made a real mistake here, he's not understanding the environmentalist orientation."
The B.C. government's dramatic clash with Alberta over Northern Gateway at last month's premiers conference is driven more by circumstances rather than a political desire to win headlines by slamming other governments, analysts say.
"The Alberta and Harper governments are pushing hard on these pipelines which are strongly opposed by British Columbians," said University of B.C. professor George Hoberg.
"We haven't been in a situation where there's been such a strong opposition of interests between the feds and B.C. in a while. So it's a conflict of interests (rather than) styles of diplomacy."
Hoberg said changing fiscal circumstances are also at play. During the Campbell era Ottawa was flooding the provinces with money, whereas since the 2011 election the federal government is in restraint mode and has made decisions in areas such as heath care, the Canadian Coast Guard, and fisheries management that aren't necessarily in line with B.C. government interests.
The cultural divide appears to be also emerging in the federal cabinet. While Harper's ministers from Ontario and Alberta have denounced Clark's position, Heritage Minister James Moore had scathing words about the Enbridge project in a remarkably frank radio interview in Vancouver Wednesday.
"Christy Clark is very much, I think, in the right in terms of her responsibility to represent British Columbians, to make sure that the rest of the country understands that just because British Columbia is physically the Asia-Pacific gateway, it doesn't mean that we're the doormat for companies like Enbridge to think that they can go ahead and do business without having due diligence and taking care of the public's interest," said Moore, Harper's senior B.C. minister.
Clark, who has aggressively courted the Harper Tories and hired several ex-Harper staffers, takes issue with the suggestion B.C. is edging back into its old reputation as a problem child of Confederation, according to her parliamentary secretary, John Les.
"This little set-to, if you will, over the Northern Gateway pipeline is a unique issue, it's an issue that incites a lot of passion amongst British Columbians," Les said.
"So the premier's gotta do what she's gotta do to make sure B.C.'s interest in that issue is properly represented. And there's no question that along the way there might be a few bumps and bruises, not only vis a vis Ottawa but perhaps Edmonton as well.
"But you know, I think the relationships between B.C. and Ottawa, and B.C. and Alberta, are strong, robust, respectful and constructive."
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: Peter O'Neil
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