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It takes about five minutes for an Albertan with a long memory to realize that Justin Trudeau is not his father’s prime minister.

So, here comes a column I never dreamed I’d write about a Liberal PM.

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Trudeau the younger is here to promise help, not pick fights, on a visit that’s highly important both symbolically and practically.

He surely knows that many other Canadians don’t like the idea of special and direct federal financial help for Alberta. In fact, neither do Albertans, who never imagined the province would need it.

We were the big shots, after all. The ones who shovelled money to everybody else, or imagined we did, not always with the most charitable attitude. All those tax transfers to Ottawa could mean longer Lamborghini payments.

Today, it hurts provincial pride to ask for handouts. But everybody on the provincial political spectrum, certainly including Premier Rachel Notley, knows we need both financial help and quick extension of employment insurance.