UCP leader Jason Kenney has promised Albertans a referendum on equalization payments if a pipeline isn’t built within 3 years.



The promise comes at a time when Kenney is campaigning to be elected the Premier of Alberta.



Kenney hopes to use the threat of a cancellation as a means to prompt Ottawa into further action regarding pipelines.



Alberta is in the depth of a crisis, and yet, Albertans are still forking over funds to prop up gold-plated welfare programs in Quebec.



Between 2007 & 2015, Albertans paid $221 BILLION more to the feds than they received in services.



The system is rigged against the West. https://t.co/JqHEnwNbx5 — Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) December 11, 2018

“The centrepiece of our platform is fighting back against the foreign-funded special interests and the Trudeau-Notley alliance that have landlocked our energy,” said Kenney about his party’s policy.



Throughout his campaign, Kenney has attacked what he calls the “Trudeau-Notley” alliance which he blames for the province’s oil and economy troubles.



The UCP platform plan for a referendum also includes a call for the federal government to repeal Bill C-69, which is a piece of legislation which inserts divisive identity politics into the pipeline approval process and will make it all but impossible to approve future energy projects..



“Hold a referendum on removing equalization from the Constitution Act on October 18, 2021 if substantial progress is not made on construction of a coastal pipeline, and if Trudeau’s Bill C-69 is not repealed” reads the party platform.



Opponents of the legislation have called it an anti-pipeline bill and that it is meant to target the province of Alberta specifically.



As a wealthy province, Alberta has been particularly affected by the equalization system which seeks to transfer wealth from the federal government throughout Canada to address fiscal disparity.



In the 2018-2019 period, Alberta received no equalization payments, while Quebec received nearly $11.7 billion from the federal government.



