National unity ‘at risk’ over demise of Energy East pipeline, Wall says
Premier Brad Wall told reporters Wednesday he is using strong language about the cancelled Energy East project because, “I believe strongly in this pipeline.”
Last week, TransCanada Corp. announced it was scrapping plans for the controversial $15.7-billion project that would have carried oil from the west to the east, largely by converting segments of a natural gas pipeline into one capable of carrying western crude oil.
During the debate over the pipeline, Wall used strong language and he has continued to do so following the project’s demise.
On Tuesday, Wall posted on Facebook that “national unity was at risk” and last week he likened the federal Liberal government to kidnappers holding the west hostage.
“In the end, this is about policy,” Wall said Wednesday. “Western Canadians shouldn’t shy away from using strong language, especially when you consider the cumulative effect of this federal government on the energy sector. Not just with pipelines, but with taxation and regulatory policy changes as well.”
Many analysts have said the federal regulations were the project’s killer while others suggested it was economics and changing priorities for the company that shut down Energy East.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote an open letter over the weekend saying that debate is one thing but, “stoking national divisions, using a private corporation’s business move as a pretext, is another.”
Wall recognized that was at least partly about him, but did not shy away from continuing to criticize the role he believes Trudeau’s government played in Energy East’s demise.
“It’s a number of different policy initiatives by the federal government that would leave western Canadians to believe that what we do here is undervalued by this prime minister,” Wall said, noting the Liberals changed the process TransCanada had to go through in order to get Energy East approved.
Wall added: “I didn’t hear (Trudeau) say anything about the mayor of Montreal (Denis Coderre) basically dancing on the graves of Saskatchewan and Alberta jobs by celebrating the end of this.”
Wall also demonstrated he is, at least in part, attempting to reach into the playbook of one of his political idols, former Alberta Peter Lougheed.
Wall said Lougheed used strong language when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government brought in the National Energy Program during the 1980s. Some estimated the program cost Albertans up to $100 billion and Lougheed was a staunch opponent.
“Similar language was used around the debate about the National Energy Program,” said Wall. “Stronger language, I would argue, and eventually that led to change. That led to a federal government that got rid of that policy, thank goodness.”
I didn’t hear (Trudeau) say anything about the mayor of Montreal (Denis Coderre) basically dancing on the graves of Saskatchewan and Alberta jobs by celebrating the end of this.