What the **** is wrong with them ? Why do they take it so personally when one national party loses over another ? Why do they blame the Liberal party when oil prices dive ? Why don't they see where things are going with oil & gas ?
Part of it is that if an industry is floundering, voters are angry and the government bears the brunt. Whether it's fishermen or auto manufacturers or the oil and gas workers, the government gets blamed, often unfairly.
Part of it is the history, the NEP, and Trudeau's father's association with that. Justin really never had a chance in Alberta.
Part of it is frustration over what seems like government inaction. People see the lengths that Trudeau and the PMO have gone to in trying to get SNC-Lavalin out of being prosecuted for buying drugs and hookers for Moammar Gadaffi's son, and wonder why they don't see the same level of effort when tens of thousands of jobs in the energy sector are being lost. People conclude it's because SNC-Lavalin is located in Papineau and the energy sector isn't. (do you think they're wrong?)
Part of it is anger over some of the rhetoric coming from other parts of the country. People hear John Horgan or Francois Legault talking about Alberta's "dirty energy" and it increases the feeling of being the black sheep of confederation. Hearing the Quebec premier say that sort of stuff as Quebec has received vast sums of transfer payments funded in large measure by that very same "dirty energy" infuriates people. When Trudeau comes to Alberta and says "we love you" and blah blah blah, then goes back to Quebec and talks about "standing up to big oil" and other rhetoric intended to appeal to Quebec progressives, it makes people skeptical of his sincerity.
"I've heard your frustration and I want to be there to support you" has to actually mean something, it can't just be words.
Now they're talking separatism ? We blew $4.5B on a pipeline for some reason...
Alberta didn't want the gov't to buy the pipeline, they wanted the pipeline to get built. And that still isn't happening, after a botched round of consultations and new court challenges claiming that the new redone consultations were also botched. The timeline keeps getting pushed back. And it's not just one pipeline, it's all of them... all of the planned or proposed pipeline projects are either stalled or cancelled for one reason or another. Keystone XL and the Enbridge Line 3 expansion are hung up too right now.
And there's Bill 69, the new environmental review process, which many people believe will make it impossible to get a new pipeline built.
If the latest court hurdles are cleared and shovels are in the ground sometime soon on the TMX project, things might calm down. On the other hand, if Trudeau and friends give up on TMX in exchange for support from the NDP or BQ to prop up their minority, the blowback will be furious.
-k