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Canada has not turned its back on the West. Justin Trudeau has

By contrast, Scheer said he’d foster a decentralized federation, in which decision-making would be done by the smallest government closest to the people affected and in which the federal government would respect provincial jurisdiction. He promised that a Scheer government would provide stable, predictable funding for health care and other social services while allowing the provinces to decide how best to manage and deliver those programs.

Still, Scheer promised a Conservative government would provide strong leadership on matters within exclusive federal jurisdiction, where the national interest is at stake and where provinces disagree — such as on pipelines and the elimination of internal trade barriers.

He reiterated his plan to create a coast-to-coast, national energy corridor to move Quebec hydro electricity west and the West’s oil and gas east. He acknowledged it would entail “a great deal of dialogue with provincial governments and Indigenous populations” and take “a lot of work.” And in French, Scheer said it would not be done against the wishes of one or more provinces, which could well make it impossible to achieve.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault has categorically ruled out supporting a new pipeline through his province.

In a statement, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Scheer’s latest speech “is yet another example of the Conservatives misrepresenting what our government has already done, while over-promising on things that they know they can’t deliver for Canadians.”

Morneau also questioned why Scheer made no promise to meet annual with premiers, as Trudeau has done, or to meet regularly with Indigenous leaders.