As you may have heard, a number of prominent Quebec politicians – led by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre – have recently come out against the proposed Energy East pipeline.
Basing his opposition on fear and innuendo rather than fact, Coderre is rejecting a project that stands to be of great benefit to his city, his province and our country.
Not only will the Energy East pipeline create thousands of jobs across Canada, it will generate $55 billion in economic benefits, including $9.2 billion in Quebec. In addition, the proposed pipeline is a nation-building project – allowing existing and refurbished Canadian refineries to reduce imports of oil from the Middle East, Nigeria and Angola.
In opposing Energy East, Coderre is choosing to reject reason. Similar choices by other shortsighted politicians are unfairly preventing our province from full participation in the global economy.
And sadly, our NDP government has failed to find their voice, defend Alberta’s energy sector and proudly advocate for getting our energy products to tidewater.
The question must be asked – how did it come to this?
Throughout the past decade a number of activist groups, often funded by foreign sources, have taken direct aim at Alberta’s leading industries.
Rural communities take note – to date, much of the focus has been on our energy industry, but the same strategy is now being regularly used to attack agriculture.
Over time, such attacks have a cumulative effect, killing jobs and hurting the economy.
What is truly disheartening is the current NDP government has an active history working with those who are against our industries in an effort to advance an ideological agenda. For example, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips recently welcomed support from Forest Ethics and Environmental Defense for the NDP’s climate change strategy. Today, Forest Ethics continues to campaign against the Trans Mountain pipeline, while Environmental Defense is opposing Energy East.
It’s time for a new approach.
Our Wildrose Opposition is starting with Coderre, reminding him that you can’t dump eight billion litres of raw sewage into your waterways, benefit from equalization, accept foreign tankers and then reject our pipelines.
We have also called on the NDP government to hold a jobs summit here at home, by bringing together experts to hammer out the best way to protect jobs, promote our resources and ensure our long-term prosperity. Sadly, the NDP rejected our plan.
Albertans demand better.
Moving forward, our Wildrose Opposition will continue to stand up for Alberta’s interests.
This upcoming session, I plan to keep this government’s toes to the fire on Airdrie’s critical needs. My top priority again will be to urge this government to build a 24-hour Emergency Care Center. It is unacceptable that in a community of 60,000, our citizens have to commute more than 45 minutes to receive emergency care. The health and safety of my constituents will remain a priority of mine, and I look forward to taking up these and other issues when session resumes in March.
Angela Pitt
Airdrie MLA
