Liberals have chance to 'start over' with Alberta oilpatch, Deborah Yedlin says
'Nothing of substance ever happened under... Harper's watch,' says Calgary business commentator
Basically, it's over and it could have been worse, says Deborah Yedlin.
"People were quite worried about about a minority government. They were worried about a Liberal minority government supported by the NDP," she said.
While the Calgary Eyeopener business commentator knows the name Trudeau gives some Albertans the jitters, she says we should take comfort in the Liberal platform.
"Some people are going to be having a cow," she said.
"He's learned from his dad. He understands that you can't have a policy that divides the country. That you need to be a referee and not a cheerleader."
Conservatives didn't deliver
"As much as everybody looked at the Conservative government and said, 'this is the best thing for the energy sector' — nothing of substance really happened under Stephen Harper's watch," said Yedlin.
She points to the fact that Alberta has seen nothing move on the pipeline front and to Suncor Energy's hostile $4.5-billion hostile bid to takeover Canadian Oil Sands.
"Because of the Investment Canada Act and the restrictions that have been placed as a result of the Conservative party, they have a smaller universe of buyers," she said.
Chance to 'start over'
With the slate wiped clean, Yedlin says the federal government can now move forward on issues pertaining to Alberta's oilsands.
"I think we have chance to start over again with ... how we look at energy development," said Yedlin.
Trudeau could also make an impact when he attends the Paris UN climate change summit in December, a conference that Harper wasn't even planning to attend.
"Trudeau has talked about the importance of developing the energy resources, but developing them responsibly," said Yedlin.
She says Canada needs to do a lot of work on its climate change file and this could be an opportunity to re-frame the dialogue in the international arena.