Please Advise! Can Smith and Carney Push a Pipeline Through BC?

[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]

Dear Dr. Steve,

Could a provincial premier use the notwithstanding clause on, say, a pipeline? Asking for a friend.

Signed,

DE

Dear Dave,

Better than duct tape, more versatile than WD-40 — it's the notwithstanding clause, the all-purpose tool that wipes away every provincial stain, from labour disputes to human rights. Order now and get a free Canadian Jenga game — keep pulling out support pieces until the entire national structure collapses in a hilarious heap. (Referendum not included.)

Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used the notwithstanding clause to end a provincial teachers’ strike. She then used the clause again to block legal challenges to three provincial laws restricting the rights of trans kids. Every week, the Prime Minister's Office is probably getting scrawled letters reading: “Stop me before I notwithstand again.” No signature necessary.

Smith is swinging that clause like a sugar-crazed nine-year-old playing whack-a-mole. What's next from the Alberta premier? We can only speculate. The notwithstanding clause to bring back The Waltons and The Andy Griffith Show? The notwithstanding clause to prevent the singing of “O Canada” before NHL games? The notwithstanding clause to make ostriches the provincial bird? The notwithstanding clause to inoculate children against harmful vaccines? The notwithstanding clause to ban every newspaper but the National Post? The notwithstanding clause to make Grande Prairie a seaport? The notwithstanding clause to prevent the teaching of Round Earth Theory? The notwithstanding clause to create a provincial army of flying monkeys? The notwithstanding clause to score a dinner date with RFK Jr.?

That damn notwithstanding clause. Born in 1982, it was an ugly baby that grew up to be a repulsive troll. Originally intended to placate nationalists in Quebec, it has since proved to be the only kind of bilingualism the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan ever wanted to learn. Ontario, too — right-wing premiers all tend to speak fluent “notwithstanding.” Over the years that expedient constitutional measure has brought a veritable Costco full of chickens home to roost.

It should not be suggested however that Smith must always use the notwithstanding clause to swat legal obstacles like a political Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Sometimes she swings the bat via ordinary legislation. Bill 11, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, was tabled in the Alberta legislature on Monday, advancing the United Conservative Party government's expansion of private health care and proving you don't have to be a trans person to end up on the wrong end of the premier's health agenda.

Nor does Smith remain perpetually in “Don't tread on Alberta” mode. At a moment's notice, Smith can become Premier Janus. That Roman god of beginnings, endings and passages (pipelines, for example?) was always depicted as having two faces.

When she's pushing a new petroleum conduit, Smith can transform from Separatist Hyde to Patriotic Jekyll in a heartbeat. Dr. Steve is certainly not the first to point out Smith's habit of bashing Ottawa when it suits her purposes, only to subsequently don the mask of national unity and speak, with a glistening tear in her eye, about the need for mutual support among provinces. One minute she's singing “We're Not Gonna Take It,” the next she's serenading Mark Carney with “Oil Be Home for Christmas.”

So Dave, you are wondering if other premiers can play that game. Is the notwithstanding clause purely for quashing surly strikers and blocking human rights challenges? Or could it stop a pipeline?

Probably not, but chances are it won't be necessary. First Nations will have their say on any proposed project, and besides, Smith needs more than permission — she also needs money. That's always an obstacle, big plans notwithstanding.