TRUDEAU VISITS THE OILSANDS
PM blames Harper for pipeline delays
FORT MCMURRAY Delays in getting pipelines built and a public mistrust toward oilsands developments are legacies of the former Conservative government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a Friday tour of Suncor’s Fort Hills operation north of Fort McMurray.
Following the visit, Trudeau said the Harper government failed to get major pipeline projects built because Canadians did not trust those in power “to both grow the economy and protect the environment.”
“For 10 years, Stephen Harper’s government talked up the oilsands, but couldn’t get it done,” said Trudeau. “Their lack of any sort of responsibility on the environment didn’t just hurt the environment, it hurt the economy.”
Trudeau took aim at critics on both sides of the pipeline debate, arguing they were either hurting economic growth or ignoring the economic need for a pipeline to the West Coast.
“It’s a shame that there are people out there who are very much looking to polarize this debate and pit Canadians against Canadians and regions against another,” he said.
Following Trudeau’s comments, Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party and a former cabinet minister in the Harper government, tweeted that Trudeau’s claim is “demonstrably false.”
“Trudeau (is) the one who killed Northern Gateway and scuttled Energy East, and is failing to fight Trans Mountain obstructionism,” he tweeted.
Trudeau’s trip to the oilsands followed a visit to B.C. on Thursday, where he delivered a similar message on balancing resource development and environmental stewardship.
His Vancouver fundraiser was disrupted by protesters chanting “Kinder Morgan has got to go.”
On Friday, Trudeau acknowledged there were people in Fort McMurray who saw his environmental policies — particularly toward carbon pricing — as the reason major pipeline projects have yet to be built.
Suncor CEO Steve Williams said he felt “reassured” regarding Trudeau’s pipeline and environmental commitments.
“I think we’re going to get some help,” Williams said.
While taking questions from workers in a break room, one man said the number of foreign oil companies that have left the oilsands in the last few years worried him. He asked how Ottawa would bring those companies back to Alberta.
“We do need to do a better job on getting international investment,” said Trudeau. “We’re going to be able to do that as we move forward on NAFTA, as we create better trade deals and as we demonstrate our capacity to get big projects, like the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, built.”
Trudeau also met with the leaders of several oil companies, and those of First Nation and Métis communities in the Wood Buffalo region.
“First Nations want development to happen throughout Canada, but First Nations want to be a big part of development,” Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam said as he arrived for the meeting.
We do need to do a better job on getting international investment. We’re going to be able to do that as we move forward on NAFTA, as we create better trade deals and as we demonstrate our capacity to get big projects ... built.