BCBusiness

thE Canadian pREss/JUstin tang nOVEmBER 2018 BCBusiness 33 WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, PART 3: JOHN HORGAN AND CHRISTY CLARK IMPROV NIGHT AT THE ARTS CLUB THEATRE "When I was in Opposition, I was on the rose-garden side [of the legislature build- ing]," Horgan says, "and I would hang out the window and heckle people. My greatest engagement was with Christy. One day she was walking down the path. She was wear- ing a red outt. I said, 'If this was an away mission, you wouldn't be coming home.'" This jibe requires a bit of Star Trek knowledge—as fans of the show under- stand, anonymous ensigns who wear red uniforms are frequently killed o‡ early in an episode. Clark got it. "She immediately turned around," Horgan recalls, "and said, 'My phaser's on stun, because I like ya.' "I thought, Good for you. I gave her full marks for a quick retort." Even that bit of barbed banter may be more than the current Opposition leader could manage. Wilkinson doesn't consider himself to be one of the premier's buddies. "In the legislature, we argue about policy, but most of us have long-time relationships with people on the other side," he says. "But John Horgan is not one of the people who makes friends easily, and I have never gotten to know him." Wilkinson isn't the only one heckling Horgan. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi recently told a Calgary reporter that Horgan is "one of the worst politicians we've seen in Canada in decades; he appeals to popu- lism in a way that is not based on fact. What we're seeing here is an enormous amount of misinformation. But what we're also seeing is that the public is not buying it." The neighbours seem to have gotten nastier since Horgan's apple-stealing days. While Nenshi launched rhetorical bombs, Alberta Premier Notley waged war over the Trans Mountain expansion with a wine boycott, an ad campaign and a threat to shut down the province's fuel supplies. "I am ready and prepared to turn o‡ the taps," Notley said at a May 16 press conference. The same day, Federal Finance Minis- ter Bill Morneau laced into Horgan over the pipeline expansion battle. "What Premier Horgan has done is unconstitutional," Mor- neau said. "And we are going to deal with the risk presented by Premier Horgan." Horgan's court challenge to the pipeline was widely derided as a mere delaying tac- tic. Then came this summer's shock deci- sion by the Federal Court of Appeal that the project must be halted for further study and consultation. Through it all, Horgan largely projected an aura of calm, as if it was all just politics as usual. "The constitution, the distribution of powers in our Canadian context is some- thing that has been evolving since the BNA [British North America] Act," he says. "I am not at all surprised that we would have a disagreement on jurisdiction. These things have happened through- out our history with regularity. "I was in Ottawa weeks ago with Rachel, whom I have known for a long time and have great respect for, and Justin Trudeau," Hor- gan relates. "And the three of us were sitting in a room—could be characterized as among the three most progressive politicians in the country—and we were disagreeing, substan- tially, around a signicant issue. But at the end of it all I was still smiling, still comfort- able because I knew the values that we all brought into the room were consistent." If every political party has its divisions, the NDP schism is more pronounced than most—labour on one side, environmen- talists on the other. Horgan's two biggest positions have placed one foot squarely in both camps. While his pipeline opposition has pleased the Greens, his go-ahead on Site C dealt them a major shock. "Site C was a decision that I wouldn't have made," he says. "I would have looked at $10 billion in capital investment in new technolo¨y as a better way to go. But when we took o'ce, [the project] was 25-percent complete, and new governments—regardless of political stripe—should not burn billions of dollars for no good outcome. "That's what happens when you're in government," Horgan continues. "Rachel Notley said to me that she did not get into politics to build a pipeline. But right now for her economy and her people in Alberta, she believes that's the best course of action. So circumstances develop out- kINDER suRpRIsEs In April, Premier Horgan met (from left) federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in Ottawa to discuss Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion

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