Quebec government calls for calm in resource debate
The Quebec government is reaching out to Alberta and calling for reconciliation in light of anger in the province over the demise of the Energy East pipeline project.
In an open letter, cabinet minister Jean-Marc Fournier said he understands the disappointment in Alberta over TransCanada Corp.’s recent decision to cancel the pipeline, which was intended to pump oilsands crude across Canada to refineries in New Brunswick.
But he said the Quebec government is being unfairly blamed for Energy East’s collapse as an “economic adversary” of Alberta.
“To present one society as a bloc opposed to the other is nothing more than taking a deliberate shortcut in order to divide and polarize,” said Fournier, the Liberal government’s minister responsible for Canadian relations.
Calgary-based TransCanada announced earlier this month it was scrapping the $15.7-billion Energy East project. One factor was the federal National Energy Board’s decision to consider downstream greenhouse gas emissions in its review of the pipeline.
The decision was hailed by some politicians in Quebec, notably Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre. But Fournier said the project had not even made it to the point of being considered under the seven principles the Quebec government had laid out for pipelines.
The celebratory reaction of some Quebecers to the end of Energy East has become fodder in the leadership race at Alberta’s new United Conservative Party. Candidates Jason Kenney and Brian Jean have taken aim at Quebec politicians over the issue.
Cheryl Oates, press secretary for Premier Rachel Notley, said Alberta is open to increased dialogue between the two provinces, but she said there were numerous “headwinds” facing Energy East and “Quebec was not responsible solely for its cancellation.”