Politics on TV: Pipelines, premiers and a court order

Here are the three things you should not have missed:

1. Redford on pipelines
2. McLeod on NWT devolution
3. Truth and Reconciliation documents

Alison Redford on pipelines:

Power & Politics spoke with Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who was in Toronto today to meet with incoming premier Kathleen Wynne and to talk to business audiences about the need to expand pipelines, especially an east-west pipeline to New Brunswick, and how those projects will benefit Ontario businesses. Redford said that she is cautiously optimistic about the Keystone XL pipeline decision, but that the imperative is to get oil to tidewater so that they can demand world prices. Redford added that her province is looking at alternative funding models like social impact bonds and results-based budgeting to deal with their fiscal shortfall.

Devolving power to the NWT:

Power Play spoke with NWT Premier Bob McLeod, who said that 2014 is the current working deadline for the Territory to get control of its natural resources. McLeod called Harper a good friend to the North, and said that the decision to devolve more powers to the territory will give them more control over their own programs, allow them to work closer with Aboriginal governments, which will allow for revenue sharing, and that it will double the Territory’s GDP by 2020. McLeod said that because of the vast landscape with a sparse population, infrastructure and energy are still huge challenges.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents:

Evan Solomon spoke with Julian Falconer, the lawyer for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission on residential schools. After a court decision that said that the government needs to turn over its vast archives, estimated to be anywhere between two and five million records, Falconer said that it could cost the government as much as $100 million to turn over all of those documents, but after the commitment they made in 2006, they can’t simply back out of the deal with First Nations because it’s too expensive. Falconer said that time is running out for these documents to be turned over, and that the Commission is about the First Nations having control over their own history.

Worth Noting:

• Amidst all of they hysteria over the BlackBerry 10, Bob Fife noted they are important in politics because of the conversations that happen with PINs, which can’t be ATIPed.
• Don Martin’s Commons Folk feature this week featured Liberal MP Scott Simms, who is mulling a bid to run for leader of the provincial Liberal party in Newfoundland and Labrador.