NDP leader Tom Mulcair ready to partner oilpatch NDP leader opposed to pipeline plans
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair speaks at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce event at the Fairmont Palliser on Tuesday.
Tom Mulcair says an NDP government would be a willing partner with Alberta's energy industry, but the federal Opposition leader has little good to say about two major pipeline proposals touted as essential for the province's resource economy.
Speaking in Calgary on Tuesday, Mulcair dismissed the Keystone XL pipeline to the United States Gulf Coast as a low priority and reiterated he remains "adamantly opposed" to Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway line.
That controversial project - currently the subject of hearings by the National Energy Board - would send Alberta bitumen to Kitimat on the British Columbia coast for eventual shipment to Asia.
"It is madness to think of bringing those supertankers into that pristine coast. It is a non-starter," Mulcair told reporters following his address to a group of more than 100 people at a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
"It is the most abject misunderstanding of the importance of protecting the environment I've ever seen in Canada."
Mulcair's first visit to the city since last fall's Calgary Centre byelection campaign came as both the Alberta and federal governments push to open new markets for Canadian energy. The province is facing mounting fiscal woes because of the deep discount for oilsands due to glut of crude in the U.S.
During Tuesday's provincial fiscal update, the Redford government said the bitumen price discount is expected to knock more than one percentage point off projected economic growth in Alberta this year - the province now expects the economy to expand by 2.9 per cent - while costing the energy industry an estimated $8 billion in lost revenues.
"You're looking at a $30-billion hit to the Canadian economy," said Finance Minister Doug Horner. "Alberta is not alone in this situation."
Mulcair did offer support for proposals to send bitumen to Eastern Canada on existing pipeline infrastructure, saying he knows Canada needs "a diversity of markets."
But the former Quebec environment minister said increased market access depends on popular support for energy projects and proper environmental legislation. The Harper government's overhaul of the environmental review process last year may be popular with resource companies, but it is a "poisoned chalice" for industry, he said.
The NDP's seat in Edmonton Strathcona is the only non-Conservative riding in Alberta, but the party has faced tough sledding in the province.
Mulcair's suggestion last year that energy exports had pushed up the dollar and hollowed out the country's manufacturing sector prompted fierce criticism.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said Mulcair had no standing to talk about energy issues. "I just find it hard to accept any criticism that he would have on our government's approach to the development of the energy sector given his previous policy stance on the sector in general," said the Calgary Centre North MP in an interview.
But Mulcair told the crowd the NDP and Calgary business community hold similar views on many topics.
The bulk of his speech was devoted to the rules around foreign investment, with the Outremont MP blasting the Conservative government as "incompetent" in its December approval of the $15-billion takeover of Nexen by China's state-owned CNOOC.
At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said future purchases of oilsands companies by state-owned enterprises would only be approved under "extraordinary circumstances."
Mulcair said there is no definition of what that means, nor is it clear what constitutes a "net benefit" for the country from a takeover under the Investment Canada Act. He said the NDP and chamber both want an overhaul of the legislation and clarity of the regulations around foreign takeovers.
Access article here: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/politics/Mulcair+ready+partner+oilpatch/7989103/story.html