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<\/p>\nPrime Minister Justin Trudeau\u00a0is strongly in favour of Donald Trump’s decision to green-light the Keystone XL pipeline project, a\u00a0move he says will be a boon for Canadian jobs and government coffers, and help a hobbled Alberta recover from the steep decline in oil prices.<\/p>\n
Trudeau said he has spoken to the new U.S. president twice, and on both occasions he pressed upon him Canada’s steadfast support for the $8-billion project, which could carry\u00a0more than 800,000 barrels of Alberta oil a day to refineries in Texas.<\/p>\n
“I reiterated my support for the project. I’ve been on the record for many years\u00a0supporting\u00a0[Keystone XL] because it leads to economic growth and good jobs for Albertans,” he told reporters assembled in Calgary for the federal cabinet retreat.<\/p>\n
“We know we can get our resources to market more safely and responsibly while meeting our climate change goals,” he said, adding Premier Rachel Notley’s hard cap on oilsands emissions will ensure Canada meets its reduction targets.<\/p>\n
Trump issued a\u00a0presidential memorandum\u00a0Tuesday, which will allow the proponent, TransCanada, the chance to reapply for a presidential permit for\u00a0cross-border construction.<\/p>\n
However, Trump said\u00a0the pipeline would still be\u00a0subject to a “renegotiation\u00a0of terms by us.”<\/p>\n
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U.S. President Donald Trump shows his signature on an executive order on the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday. (Evan Vucci\/AP Photo)<\/p>\n
“We are going to renegotiate some of the terms and, if they’d like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built. A lot of jobs,\u00a028,000 jobs. Great construction jobs,” he said, but did not specify what more he would like to extract from the proponent before construction can proceed.<\/p>\n
Trump has said he will push a “Buy American” agenda and will demand pipeline companies source steel used during construction from American manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Trudeau\u00a0said those negotiations are out of the federal government’s hands, and are the responsibility of TransCanada.<\/p>\n
The government had expected Trump to approve the pipeline project early in his term, but sources\u00a0told\u00a0CBC News they\u00a0were not given advance\u00a0notice by the president’s team that the decision would come today.<\/p>\n
Trudeau\u00a0also sought to clarify remarks he made at town hall in Peterborough, Ont., last week<\/a> when he suggested the oilsands will be phased out, much to the chagrin of\u00a0people\u00a0who depend on the\u00a0industry for their livelihood.<\/p>\n “I misspoke. I said something the way I shouldn’t have said it,” Trudeau said, when pressed by a local Calgary reporter.<\/p>\n Trudeau’s oilsands controversy<\/strong>2:02<\/p>\n “We know our transition off of fossil fuels is going to take a long time. My responsibility now … is making sure Canadians have good jobs, making sure communities are prospering … and doing it in a way that understands our responsibility to the environment and future generations.”<\/p>\n The prime minister said even if the transportation and energy sectors lessen dependence on\u00a0fossil fuels, there will still be a demand for oil-based products years into the future.<\/p>\n He said while opponents in the Conservative Party made “political hay” out of his comments, their former party leader also agreed,\u00a0with other G7 leaders, to complete “decarbonization” by 2100<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Stephen Harper agrees to G7 ‘decarbonization’ by 2100<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The Liberal cabinet presented a united front Tuesday, heralding Trump’s decision as proof the two, ideologically incompatible governments can work together for the benefit of workers on either side of the border.<\/p>\n “My reaction\u00a0is that it would be very positive for Canada \u2014\u00a04,500 construction jobs and a\u00a0deepening of the relationship across the border on the energy file,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr told reporters, referring to the number of temporary direct and indirect jobs that will be created in Canada.<\/p>\n “This is a very good moment for Alberta.”<\/p>\n “I’m now a Toronto MP but I’m an\u00a0Albertan,” Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister\u00a0Chrystia\u00a0Freeland\u00a0said of the president’s memorandum. “As an\u00a0Albertan, it’s a great decision for Canada and Alberta. The province needs jobs.”<\/p>\n But Trump’s decision was not universally lauded, with outgoing NDP Leader Tom Mulcair\u00a0calling the project<\/a> a “massive error” for Canada.<\/p>\n Minister of Natural Resources James Carr answers questions from the media at a Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary. Carr said he has heard no talk of the Trump administration imposing a border tax on Canada’s energy exports. (Todd Korol\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n “It’s not clear why Justin Trudeau is pushing to revive a pipeline that will export Canadian jobs and has never been properly reviewed,” Mulcair said. The pipeline will principally move diluted bitumen, and the NDP has said that the\u00a0heavy crude should instead be refined\u00a0in Canada.<\/p>\n The project has been a thorn in the side of the Canada-U.S. relationship, and former prime minister Stephen Harper was openly critical of the former Democratic president for delaying construction. Harper predicted the pipeline would be built “with or without Obama,” a forecast that was borne out Tuesday.<\/p>\n Calgary’s Mayor\u00a0Naheed Nenshi, who met with the prime minister and his cabinet to discuss the ailing Alberta economy, said he was happy to hear of Trump’s approval.<\/p>\n Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks to reporters after meeting with the Liberal cabinet at a retreat in Calgary, Alta. He said President Obama’s rejection of Keystone XL was the biggest mistake the previous administration made on the domestic front. (Jeff McIntosh\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n “I fundamentally believe\u00a0the decision to deny that pipeline was one the biggest\u00a0domestic\u00a0policy errors of the previous administration,” he said. “It is important for Canadian energy to have access to global markets; it’s important for the prosperity of our nation for that to happen.”<\/p>\n If built, the\u00a0project will be a shot in the arm for Alberta’s oilpatch, as the project will carry\u00a0830,000\u00a0barrels of oil per day into the United States when fully operational. The industry has long said it needs more pipeline capacity to carry its product to market.<\/p>\n Supply from Western Canada will grow to 5.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has\u00a0forecasted, while current pipelines can only carry four\u00a0million barrels.<\/p>\n The Liberal government signed off on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline<\/a>\u00a0and Enbridge’s Line 3 last November, which, combined, will add capacity to transport 1.3 million more barrels of oil a day.<\/p>\n All told, Canada’s oil and gas producers could be flush with pipeline space if all of these projects are constructed, which could spell bad news for another much-delayed TransCanada\u00a0project, Energy East.<\/p>\n “This is a decision that TransCanada will have to make … and the proponent’s own sense of where the markets are,” Carr said. “The job of the government of Canada is to make sure that the regulatory system is credible,\u00a0and that’s why we made fresh appointments to the National Energy Board<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n
‘Very good moment’<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThorn in the side<\/h2>\n
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