It says a lot about relations between the two provinces that even when they were both governed by the NDP, they still didn't really get along. And now, of course, Jason Kenney's United Conservative Party has taken over for Rachel Notley's party in Alberta—and Notley left a loaded gun on the nightstand when she left, in the form of Bill 12.
Bill 12 was passed but never proclaimed, but if it was, it would allow Alberta to choke off oil headed to British Columbia—a move that would effectively cripple the province's economy—if B.C. doesn't play ball on support for the Trans Mountain pipeline. If that happens, B.C. would retaliate and the two provinces could find themselves in an escalating trade war. So...is it rhetoric? How would Kenney's threat become reality? How would B.C. fight back?
GUEST: Jason Markusoff, Maclean's