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Before he became Premier in October, no Quebec politician seemed as keen to do a deal on the Energy East pipeline as François Legault. After pushing unsuccessfully for the construction of a marine terminal on the lower St. Lawrence River to export oil from Energy East – an idea that foundered over concerns about the fate of beluga whales in the area – Mr. Legault proposed charging royalties on Western Canadian crude transported through Quebec to ensure his province would benefit financially from any pipeline. “We’re aiming for zero equalization and one way to get there would be to receive royalties on the oil transiting through Quebec,” Mr. Legault said in early 2016. No one was therefore more surprised than Quebeckers themselves by Mr. Legault’s outburst last week, in which he characterized oil sands crude as “dirty energy” and rejected proposals to resuscitate the pipeline that TransCanada abandoned a year ago. Many agreed that his jab at Alberta crude was a cheap shot. Mr. Legault has bigger worries, however, than what Albertans think about him. At home, he has been dogged by accusations he doesn’t care about the environment. Indeed, the platform of his Coalition Avenir Québec party was […]
