Friday, November 09, 2007

On non-intervention

A couple of bloggers have pointed out Brad Wall's hints at dropping Saskatchewan's legal challenge to the federal Cons' equalization betrayal. But I'm surprised there hasn't been more attention to Wall's other decision to facilitate Harper's agenda which has already been confirmed:
The battle over the future of the Canadian Wheat Board has taken another turn with the election of a new government in Saskatchewan.

Premier-designate Brad Wall says his government won't pursue intervener status in the legal wrangling between Ottawa, the board and the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board.

At issue is the federal government's plan to eliminate the board's western barley marketing monopoly.

The previous NDP government had supported the court action, arguing that the federal government does not have the legal authority to make the change.

But Wall says he'll opt out because the Saskatchewan Party supports choice.
Note in particular the contrast between Wall's take on the Wheat Board and that on equalization. After all, Wall's stated plan on equalization is to at least read the province's existing legal opinions before deciding whether or not to drop the proceeding - however unlikely it is that Wall will actually follow through.

When it comes to the Wheat Board, though, Wall didn't bother waiting for any advice about the merits of the case - and apparently couldn't be less interested in considering the possibility that the province should speak up on behalf of the plurality of its barley producers.

Instead, Wall apparently doesn't mind making a statement that he won't even listen to either the law or the province's desires when they conflict with the ideology which he shares with Harper. And the obvious overlap on other ideological matters can only suggest that the Wheat Board may be only the first of many areas where the Sask Party puts Harper's goals ahead of those of the province.

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