Ottawa, ON – John Barlow, Conservative MP for Foothills and Shadow Minister for Agriculture issued the following statement in response to the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline:
“Yesterday, TransCanada announced it is cancelling the Energy East Pipeline project. The project would have created 15,000 middle class jobs and injected $55 billion into the Canadian economy.
“This announcement is not a result of any business decision taken by TransCanada, but instead a result of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s failure to champion the Canadian energy sector.
The Energy East pipeline would have helped Atlantic Canadians and Quebecers share in the prosperity of Canada’s exceptional energy sector.
“Canada has the third largest oil reserve in the world, but the absence of a west-to-east pipeline has increased eastern Canada’s dependence on imported foreign oil. The consequences for the Canadian economy are dire. Without Energy East, Canada does not have the pipeline infrastructure necessary to diminish eastern Canada’s reliance on foreign oil nor provide new markets for a Canadian resource, which is developed under the strongest environmental standards in the world.
“In 2015, eastern Canada imported 736,000 barrels of oil a day from countries such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. At the average price of oil, eastern Canada’s obligatory reliance on imported oil costs approximately $35 million a day.
“Our energy industry is world class, yet the Liberals have made their disregard for Canada’s energy sector very clear. These decisions to hamstring Canada’s natural resources are devastating to our economy and for the women and men who rely on the Canadian energy sector for a job. The Liberals need to be honest with Canadians. This was not a business decision by TransCanada, this was a decision based on the Liberals contempt for Canada’s oil and gas sector. The only winners are dictators and despots in foreign oil countries with no concern for environmental standards or human rights. Albertans deserve better. Canadians deserve better.”