Moe presses PM to `compel' Biden to reverse on Keystone
Premier Scott Moe is calling on the federal government to look for ways to “compel” U.S. President Joe Biden to reverse a decision blocking construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
In a statement on Thursday, Moe said he was planning to bring up the issue with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a call that afternoon. He urged the federal government to explain what the decision on the cancelled project will mean for the future of bilateral relations with Canada's largest trading partner.
“While I am calling on the federal government to explore opportunities to compel the Biden administration to allow the resumption of construction on this crucial piece of energy infrastructure, the federal government must also clarify what this decision means for future cross-border pipeline development and the future of Canadian-american economic relations,” Moe said in the statement.
That comes as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney urged Ottawa to implement trade sanctions if the new U.S. administration doesn't change course on Keystone.
Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office reversing former president Donald Trump's permit. The project, which would have carried more than 830,000 barrels of crude per day from Alberta to Nebraska, was met criticism from landowners and environmentalists. Moe called the move “a devastating blow to North American energy security.”
Jim Farney, head of the politics and international studies department at the University of Regina, said Canada could, conceivably, put pipeline construction at the centre of its trade strategy, much as it did in the past for softwood lumber and aluminum tariffs. But it's an open question how high Trudeau would be willing to put Keystone on his list of priorities as he builds his relationship with Biden. The pair are set to speak Friday.
“There are some really big foreign policy questions floating around,” Farney said.
“So the question could be, how far up in that pecking order does Keystone fit from a federal perspective?”