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The prime minister has been mocked far and wide for an awkwardly delivered — to be charitable — answer to a reasonable question. Justin Trudeau announced this week that Canada would look into banning single-use plastics (water bottles, drinking straws, cutlery and the like) to combat the problem of polluted oceans and waterways. A reporter asked him what his own family had done to reduce their use of plastic. The prime minister seemed strangely puzzled by the question and stumbled through a confusing, somewhat rambling answer about drinking water from boxes instead of bottles. Rideau Cottage has taps, right?

Still, the boxed-water fumble wasn’t the worst thing the prime minister had to say this week. Not even close. And the real bad answer wasn’t a fumble. It was a provocative, reckless statement — and all the scarier because the prime minister seems to mean every word of it.

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On Monday, six premiers sent the prime minister a letter. Five of the premiers are conservative — Doug Ford of Ontario, Jason Kenney of Alberta, Scott Moe of Saskatchewan, Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick and Brian Pallister of Manitoba. (The sixth premier, Bob McLeod of the Northwest Territories, does not represent a political party, as per NWT custom.) The letter urged the government to accept the nearly 200 amendments proposed by the Senate to Bill C-69, which would dramatically overhaul the process Canada uses to approve large energy projects, including pipelines. Critics have warned that the bill, in unamended form, would be a devastating blow to Canada’s already battered energy exports. The premiers warned that failure to accept the Senate’s amendments would be a serious threat to national unity.