Oilsands decision must be tied to credible laws, Mulcair says
Canada needs credible, sustainable development laws before it can determine whether or not to significantly expand production of the Alberta oilsands, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said Monday.
Mulcair was speaking at a campaign stop and book launch.
Federal party leaders have not taken a firm position on Energy East because the proposed project is under review and Canadians are divided on expanding oilsands or gradually reducing oil exports to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Both Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau have said they don’t trust the current federal pipeline review process and would introduce what they call stricter and more thorough analyses of proposed energy projects.
“It’s possible” to develop and increase production of the oilsands while being serious about greenhouse gas reduction, the NDP leader said.
“You have to put in place that sustainable development legislation and enforce it.”
That includes pricing pollution into oil products to make polluters pay for the pollution they create.
The NDP has been under pressure to clarify its position on the oilsands after Toronto NDP candidate Linda McQuaig told a CBC panel that curbing production might be necessary for Canada to meet its environmental targets.
The Tories committed Canada to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent from 2005 levels before 2030.
Neither the NDP, the Liberals nor the Conservatives have outlined exactly how Canada can expand the oilsands — a major driver of the country’s economy — and commit to reducing emissions at the same time.
Anti- oilsands activists point to a January 2015 academic article in the journal Nature that said twothirds of the world’s fossil fuel reserves — including the oilsands — must remain unburned to limit global warming to 2 degrees C.
Mulcair was in Toronto reading passages from his newly released autobiography, when a couple of people stood up shouting, “Stop Energy East.”
The project would bring 1.1 million barrels of oil a day from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in New Brunswick for export.
“If it is found to be incompatible with national action on climate change, will you say no to the pipeline?” one protester yelled as he was escorted out of the room.
“Of course we will,” Mulcair replied. “That’s what the whole purpose of coming in with a new system is: To make sure that we take into account climate change whenever we analyze a project.”
If it is found to be incompatible with national action on climate change, will you say no to the pipeline?