Thoughts on Keystone

Re: Were I an Albertan, I’d be asking: What’s the point? Rex Murphy, Jan. 23; and Upset over the Keystone XL cancellation? Tristin Hopper, Jan. 26 As an Albertan, I would like rex Murphy to write a column about what it is that keeps Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba from putting money and resources together, rolling up their collective sleeves and building a railway from Fort Mac to Churchill in Manitoba, refurbishing that ideal, deep water port, and loading tankers there.

Would he be writing about the lost pioneering spirit of Canadians, and nonexistent friendship between provinces in the federation? Zdenek Kindl, Calgary

So the environmentalists think pipelines are dangerous? More dangerous than shipping oil by rail? Tell that to the 47 people who died in Lac-mégantic a few years ago because an oil train exploded in the middle of the night.

Politics in the u.s. and Canada is being driven by radical left environmentalists who have taken over somehow. It’s up to the rest of us to push back.

We need to develop our resources, but how do we do that when a handful of mayors in Quebec can dictate to the prime minister that there will be no pipeline going through Quebec? Never mind all of the gasoline diesel being transported to Quebec by tanker and pipelines from the Irving refinery in Saint John, N.B.

No problem with tankers going into New Brunswick daily from such eco-friendly places as Algeria, Nigeria, Libya, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. We even have oil being shipped from Alberta to Vancouver then down the West Coast through the Panama Canal and up to New Brunswick. How on Earth does that make any sense rather than going through Canada by pipeline?

Our prime minister puts a moratorium on tanker shipments on the West Coast but it’s open season on the East Coast? you have to wonder where the logic is.

Bill Stemp, Calgary

In the 2019 election, Justin Trudeau promised to introduce a Just Transition Act, “ensuring that workers have access to the training and support they need to succeed in the new clean economy.” But, he’s barely mentioned it since.

Now that u.s. President Joe Biden has cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, one thing is clear: the fossil fuel era is ending. Workers can’t keep waiting for help with the transition. They need action now. It’s time for Trudeau to keep his promise to workers and legislate the Just Transition Act.

A Just Transition Act would mean finally creating retraining programs for workers in the oil industry and generating thousands of good jobs that are in line with the needs of a green economy.

It’s clear that workers, our communities, and the planet need action now. Let’s hope the federal government can make it happen.

Jason Milligan, Toronto

Tristin Hopper suggests six ways Canada could “screw over” the Americans. I call it

Canada shooting itself in the foot, six times.

Reiner Jaakson, Oakville, Ont.