ALBERTA FOLLOWING ONTARIO DOWN THE DRAIN

In Ontario, taxpayers subsidized companies that, far from applying for a government handout, were invited in secret by the government to ask for money. How better to pick winners and dismiss losers? In Alberta, four big oilsands producers — Canadian National Resources, Suncor, Shell and Cenovus — reportedly engaged in secret negotiations with the government and a rogues’ gallery of radical enviros from Toronto and Montreal, from the Pembina Institute and from ForestEthics, all of whom have long-standing positions against both the oilsands and pipelines.