Editorial

Cold water on Calahasen
Last week’s meeting between Pearl Calahasen’s oilpatch dispute resolution team and the Slave Lake & District Chamber of Commerce was a good thing. It was necessary, because it’s important to maintain face to face civil discourse during a difficult situation.
It was good that it happened. It was good that tempers remained in check and hard words remained unspoken. But it solved nothing.
Oilfield contractors certainly got no satisfaction from anything Calahasen said. In fact her words of encouragement and optimism about “a win-win solution” sounded hollow. Nothing any of her team of experts said backed up her optimistic attitude.
Rah-rah chearleading has always been a Calahasen strong point. She seems to have an irrepressible faith that if you believe it, and say you believe it and work hard, it will come to pass. The perception will become the reality. But nobody at the Chamber meeting was buying it. This time she may not believe it herself.
Why? Normally (as in the case of hospitals, schools, roads, etc.) she is dealing with an absolute provincial jurisdiction. Her biggest obstacle in granting the wishes of her constituents is getting money out of Ralph Klein and his ministers. When it comes to convincing her cabinet colleagues of the importance of her own riding, Calahasen is doubtless a master of the art. She knows that it’s only a matter of time and effort before the premier (who called Calahasen “a spiritual advisor” at a campaign stop in Slave Lake!) will give her at least some of what she wants. In this case he gave her $6 million to put out the fires in the oilpatch.
But the oilpatch dilemma defies easy solutions. At the Chamber meeting that much became clear as soon as Calahasen turned the microphone over to her Six-Million Dollar Men. They contradicted her rosy optimism right, left and centre.
For example, Calahasen said if there’s law-breaking in the oilpatch, call the RCMP. Simple. End of story. Her legal eagle Kurt Sandstrom, however, admitted that where constitutional issues may be involved, the RCMP are “hesitant” to act.
Calahasen’s ‘win-win’ scenario didn’t look so likely either when David Coombs of the Department of Energy talked of the drastic decline in drilling in the Lesser Slave Lake area in the last three years. Is it because of the oilpatch access disputes? Can’t say for sure, said Coombs. One thing’s for sure, oil prices aren’t to blame.
Sandstrom really poured cold water over his boss when he got into the constitutional implications of Crown vs. traditional land. He made it pretty clear that the high courts of the land look favourably upon treaty rights on Crown land. Calahasen had stressed that the province asserts its ownership of Crown land, but everything Sandstrom said made it clear that Alberta’s jurisdiction is anything but absolute under Canadian law.
In other words, get ready for a change in the business landscape. The First Nations are in a strong legal position and will pursue their advantage to the ends of the earth. There is every reason to expect that the recent assertion of rights over traditional territories is but the beginning of a very long and possibly very difficult process.
How difficult is anybody’s guess, but good leadership can certainly make it easier. If Calahasen wants to be the leader that makes the difference, she should cut the baloney and start talking turkey.
The various stakeholders in this dispute need to be at the same table, and not just once. They need to be brought there and kept there and kept talking there by someone with the guts and brains and authority and good will and personal credibilty to do the job. If Calahasen is the person to do it she should start showing it right now. If she isn’t she should admit it and get out of the way.