Linda Schultz helps Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff try on a cowboy hat at a stampeded breakfast during in Calgary on July 4, 2009.TODD KOROL/Reuters
Last summer, then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion came to the Calgary Stampede with a message of salvation for Albertans. "It's very important for the world to know how much Albertans care about the environment, how much you are green and you want to do the right thing," Mr. Dion said, making the case for his Green Shift plan. "I cannot accept that your reputation is damaged as it is now."
Mr. Dion's successor, Michael Ignatieff, arrived in Calgary last weekend with a very different message. Rather than implicitly admonishing Albertans, he sang the praises of the province's oil industry, and predicted Canada's "centre of economic gravity" would shift to Calgary. "The one instinct I've had from the beginning about the industry at the heart of this economy is this is a national industry - a national industry in which all Canadians should take pride," he said. "The Liberal Party of Canada must never, ever, ever run against that industry or against Alberta."
The effort to reach out to Albertans, like similar comments on visits to other parts of the country, is among the more impressive aspects of the early days of Mr. Ignatieff's leadership. Decades of perceived sleights against the West have left the Liberals a non-factor in most ridings west of Ontario. Mr. Ignatieff's attempts to build trust are essential if the Liberals are to re-establish themselves as a truly national party.
Promising not to resurrect Mr. Dion's carbon tax, however, is the easy part. Before long, Mr. Ignatieff needs to begin outlining what it is that he proposes to do instead. The Conservative government, criticized for lagging behind other countries in presenting a climate-change plan, has pledged to unveil a detailed cap-and-trade proposal by the end of this year. Given the strong prospect of an election this fall, Mr. Ignatieff will be compelled to move beyond vague assurances (and equally obscure expressions of support for cap-and-trade) to explain how a Liberal government would balance economic and environmental interests. The rejection of Mr. Dion's plan - which involved not just a new tax, but a wealth transfer from west to east - should not lead Mr. Ignatieff to step so carefully that Canada is denied a serious debate about its options.
As Mr. Ignatieff argues, the future of the oil industry is pivotal to Canadian sovereignty. With the United States pressing forward with climate-change legislation with a strong protectionist streak, that sovereignty will be jeopardized unless Canada urgently advances a climate-change plan of its own. Mr. Ignatieff is right not to "run against" Albertans, but he would do them no favours by telling some of them what they wish to hear.