By Hayley Ferguson

Kenney in Medicine Hat pledges to ‘Turn off the Taps’

Apr 8, 2019 | 5:35 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney used the Gas City as a backdrop to announce a major campaign promise.

He said, if the party is elected on April 16, within the first hour of power, the party will hold a cabinet meeting to put Bill 12 into law. 

Bill 12 was created and passed by the NDP last year in response to the ongoing dispute between Alberta and British Columbia over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

“The NDP passed that legislation through the legislature a year ago as part of their fake fight a bad act of political theatre,” Kenney said. They never intended to use it. That’s understated by the fact they never proclaimed it into law.”

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

18h ago

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

Medicine Hat College holding event for missing and murdered Indigenous women awareness day

Apr 16, 2024

Kenney says if elected he will scale back crude exports to BC.

His promise comes at a time when gas prices on BC’s lower mainland have soared to almost $1.75 a litre.

Turning off the taps could push that amount even higher which Kenney believes would give Alberta a lot of leverage

“We will turn it into a real law, indicating to the government, the NDP, in Victoria that if they block our energy, we are prepared to use that,” he said.

Local Brooks-Medicine Hat candidate Michaela Glasgo agrees this is the right thing to do. 

“Thank goodness, I mean the NDP have sat on this and first of all took the idea from us and then sat on this legislation and didn’t actually enact it,” she said. “Providing just how out of touch they are with regular Albertans who want this going forward.”

When Kenney made the announcement, the roughly 400 person crowd broke into applause. 

“BC seems to think it’s okay to hold the rest of the country hostage. I don’t think it’s right. The tanker ban is going to probably consist of one tanker, with Canadian oil per day, maybe per week. But it’s okay to let American tankers flow through Canadian ports? No.” Said one UCP supporter at the event.

Earlier today, NDP leader Rachel Notley announced she expects Ottawa to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline by the end of May.

Speaking in Edmonton, Notley predicts shovels could be in the ground by spring.

Kenney has said if Alberta can’t get it’s oil to tidewater in a timely manner, he will hold a referendum on the federal government’s equalization program.

The program relies heavily on Alberta to support provinces that are struggling economically.

We reached out to the NDP to find out if leader Rachel Notley will be visiting Medicine Hat before the election.

They were non committal saying the schedule for this week has not been finalized.