These guys also just came off a federal election in which the environment was a major issue, and their federal counterpart party was the only one without a soli

These guys also just came off a federal election in which the environment was a major issue, and their federal counterpart party was the only one without a solid environmental program in their policy. These conservatve premiers all campaigned against the federal environmental programs and launched civil court cases to defeat federal environmental policies after being elected, and then saw the federal government reelected based on those policies they oppose. They're not fools, they can see the writing on the walls. The primary beneficiaries of these MRDs would be isolated northern communities (eg. Kashechewan) that currently use diesel generators. It's incredibly expensive to ship in diesel, it's widely acknowledged as polluting, and there are political problems associated with relegating indigenous communities to cast-offs from the south. Most of Canada is not on the grid and with the sun gone six months of the year, solar is a non-starter. Wind requires high maintenance and incredibly high construction costs so it's not really viable in remote communities. MRDs look like a god-send for conservative premiers: be seen to be proactive for indigenous communities, be seen to be pro-active on the green front (but without carbon taxes or targeting the fossil fuel producers), pour money into tech research in Saskatoon and Toronto (two areas that don't traditionally vote Conservative), and one-up the federal government. What's for a conservative premier not to like?