It would be nice if our current government would start taking responsibility for the mess that they are creating.  Blaming the “Anti-Alberta Conspiracy” for the lacklustre economic performance of the economy reeks of desperation and deceit.  Alberta’s Premier is busily talking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to Moody’s Investor Service.

“When Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Alberta’s credit rating this week, Premier Jason Kenney reacted swiftly and decisively — to attack the messenger.He took aim at Moody’s for daring to include environmental risk in its report card.  As Moody’s pointed out: “Alberta’s oil and gas sector is carbon intensive and Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions are the highest among provinces. Alberta is also susceptible to natural disasters including wildfires and floods which could lead to significant mitigation costs by the province.”

Moody’s conclusion was understandable. In a time of climate change, credit rating agencies are taking environmental risk into account.

But Kenney refuses to accept that.

For him, this is just one more example of an anti-Alberta conspiracy.  According to Kenney, financial institutions, including Moody’s, “are buying into the political agenda emanating from Europe, which is trying to stigmatize development of hydrocarbon energy. And I just think they are completely factually wrong.”

Kenney all but accused Moody’s of being part of the foreign-funded conspiracy he claims is out to landlock Alberta’s oil.”

Wait for it…

“The UCP, while in opposition, was happy to accept the conclusions of agencies, including Moody’s, whenever they downgraded the NDP government’s credit rating.

Consider this quote from UCP MLA Jason Nixon back in December of 2017 after the NDP government-of-the-day suffered yet another credit downgrade: “We have a government that is showing no signs of controlling their spending and clearly the credit agencies don’t trust them right now.”

However, as former-premier Ralph Klein was fond of saying, that was then, this is now.

According to the UCP back then, Moody’s was a purveyor of the truth.

According to the UCP now, Moody’s is “completely factually wrong.”

The Moody’s report, of course, put the UCP government in an awkward spot. This is a government that promised to turn the Alberta economy around with jobs and pipelines. Even though the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is forging ahead, significant job creation is stuck in neutral.”

Yeah.  The bullshit is that thick here in Alberta.  It would be nice, for once, to let the facts speak for themselves without the partisan glaze that has become the norm.  The UCP has demonstrated a distinct lack of leadership when it comes to the promises made on the campaign trail – job losses, negative economic growth, and more taxes (user fees) for the people of Alberta.  Nothing like ‘making Alberta open for business, and getting people back to work’.