Peter Lougheed opposes Keystone pipeline

Former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed is adding his voice to the opposition to the controversial Keystone X-L pipeline project.

However his opposition is based on economic reasons, rather than environmental.

"We should be refining the bitumen in Alberta and we should make it public policy in the province," he said.

If Alberta's Tories loved Peter Lougheed so much, why do they have so little to say about him?

We have 28 federal electoral districts in Alberta of which 27 elected members of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Of those 27 Conservative MPs, one has since been kicked out of caucus for refusing to blow into a Breathalyzer and now sits as an independent Conservative. One has quit and not yet been replaced. The 28th is a New Democrat.

So how many Alberta Members of Parliament, do you think, paid tribute to former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed in the House of Commons when Parliament resumed sitting four days after Lougheed's death in Calgary at 84?

The answer would be "only one."

Adoration of Peter Lougheed moves beyond canonization into deification

With his state funeral yesterday afternoon, the official adoration of former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed moved beyond canonization into deification.

If other Canadians happened to pause and listen to what was actually being said in Calgary’s 57-year-old Jubilee Auditorium, which was broadcast by the CBC, they could be forgiven for wondering if we Albertans had collectively taken leave of our senses.

I mean no disrespect for Lougheed with this observation. As has been said here before, he was an undeniably successful politician, far-sighted by the standards of any generation and surprisingly liberal in his economic views from the perspective of the positions held nowadays by his fellow Conservatives.

Peter Lougheed's Radical Legacy

As Canada's inept Tory politicians now salute the remarkable achievements of Peter Lougheed, they tellingly omit his radical views on resource development.

And that should come as no surprise. Unlike the current libertarian "strip it and ship it" crowd that governs most of the west, Lougheed stood for something different. He offered a farsighted vision that was both progressive and altogether conservative. Although everybody from Saskatchewan's Brad Wall to Alberta's Alison Redford now praise the famously competent premier, none walk his talk.

Returning Tory voters gave Redford her victory: Lougheed

Alison Redford’s election victory was driven by Progressive Conservative voters who came back to the party after years of not voting, says former premier Peter Lougheed, founder of the 41-year-old dynasty.

While some observers attributed Redford’s 61-seat win to strategic voting by Liberals, Lougheed said he sees it differently — longtime, stay-at-home PCs finally decided to get out and vote because they found Redford’s party better represented their views.

“Many of our party supporters had been staying away from elections that occurred in the (Ralph) Klein years and (Ed) Stelmach as well,” said Lougheed.

“I think they were taken by the new leader with a vision for the future and they wanted to vote for their party again — it was that combination,” said Lougheed, adding he was “thrilled” with the results.

“This really renews the PC party in terms of its strength and it endorses Premier Redford’s plans for the future of the province.”