Many Canadians still don’t seem to understand that no matter who’s in power in Alberta the province needs the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion to be built.  The Alberta budget is still $7 billion in the hole while the energy industry has 50,000 fewer workers than just 5 years ago – with thousands of more lay-off to come.

Higher gas taxes, increased mandatory CPP contributions, higher property taxes and of course income taxes are a full frontal attack on your cost of living.  The question is – what are you getting for the extra you’re paying?

After decades we’re still talking about eradicating poverty, affordable housing and homelessness to name just a few of the regularly occurring problems.  But what if the goal was never to solve them and instead is to show our own great goodness by talking about them.

Opponents of Kinder Morgan or the Coastal Gaslink and the Kinder Morgan expansion don’t care if the economy loses $100 billion or a $10 trillion or how much government revenues suffer in derailing the oil and gas industry – but the rest of us should.

Sure spending a $1000 on a whale watching cruise and calling a tsunami awareness exercise is outrageous but why the lack of outrage over equally absurd and questionable spending of our tax dollars?