How did he not see that one coming! (or How to Stop Worrying and Move Past the NEP)

This one threw me for a loop, I must admit. I thought oil companies were supposed to be big bad evil organizations. Sure, I wouldn't be surprised if Suncor, Shell, Petro-Canada, Devon Canada, ConocoPhillps and Husky were calling for a slow down in oilsands (pronounced "tarsands" if you are Brian Mason) just because they wanted less competition, but none-the-less I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and believe that it really is out of concern for the environment, the infrastructure of Wood Buffalo, or to give more clarity around the lands available etc. Besides, they actually seem to be very serious in their tone.

Given all this, here's where I start to get confused: Are these evil oil companies really telling our government they aren't doing enough in any of these areas? If so, what the hell is wrong with our government?! I thought Ed met with oil execs repeatedly during the royalty review. Didn't the topic of oilsands development come up? I find that hard to believe. Did he really miss the boat that much on such an important issue?

I'm shocked, to say the least, that our own government appears to be the bad guy in all this. How did this happen?

Oh, I think I know now. Earlier today Ed Stelmach said, "Governments do not control the economy." Well, Ed, um, actually they kinda do. That's what the Bank of Canada is designed to do. And you know those budgets that you do every year? Those affect people and businesses and how they spend their money. Social programs and all that? Does this ring a bell? That's pretty much "the economy" in a nutshell.

As if that wasn't enough to prove our leader is out to lunch on this issue he followed up his answer to the question about these compaies requesting an oilsands development moratorium by bringing up the NEP. Again. *sigh* This pains me Ed. So for your benefit, I'll try to make my position on bitching about the NEP very clear:

The NEP is old news! Get over it and please move on! The younger generation has. And it pisses us off every time a politician mentions it, or uses it as a crutch or excuse for sitting on their ass on any given issue.

This is important to know, Mr. Stlemach. This is the third time you have mentioned the NEP as an excuse for not doing something this election. So, here is fair warning: if you do it one more time I will not vote for you. And many others will probably feel similarly and follow suit.

Now, I think you should take a break from stumping to re-think your energy policies. It looks like they need some serious work...