Practical politics at work - Winnipeg Free Press
The irony of Gary Doer promoting Alberta's so-called dirty oil will not be lost on environmentalists, the same ones who sang his praises for protecting the boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg by forcing Manitoba Hydro to build its new transmission line on the west side at much greater cost.
Any suggestion of hypocrisy, however, would be unfair because it is Mr. Doer's job, as Canada's ambassador to the United States, to promote the oil sands and the economic opportunity they represent.
The fact is, in the short time that he's been in the post, Mr. Doer has shown himself to be a master craftsman in the art of practical politics at the highest levels of international diplomacy. Manitobans already understood that the former premier was a skilled negotiator and communicator, but Canadians in general are only now getting a handle on our man in Washington.
On the oil sands, for example, Mr. Doer has been busy reminding Americans that their oil security and thousands of jobs would be lost if environmentalists win the argument that Alberta's crude is a major polluter and a blight on the planet.
As Allen Abel notes on the page opposite, the ambassador appeals to America's self-interest, rather than to the better angels of their nature. Like previous envoys, he has also discovered that he needs to repeat some basic truths, including the fact Canada is America's largest trading partner and its
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