Ottawa, ON – Shannon Stubbs, Conservative Shadow Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, released the following statement after Liberal members of the Natural Resources Committee shut down debate on a Conservative motion to declare a Pacific pipeline in Canada’s national interest:
“More than a year after Prime Minister Mark Carney promised an interprovincial export pipeline to the Pacific, Liberal Members of Parliament on the Natural Resources committee shut down debate on a Conservative motion to declare the Prime Minister’s promised Pacific pipeline as being in Canada’s national interest.
“This is yet another example of Liberals saying one thing and doing another. For months, Mark Carney has promised to make Canada an ‘energy superpower’ and to ‘build at speeds not seen in generations.’ But more than a year after promising a Pacific pipeline to Canadians, there is still no route, no proponent, no federal Indigenous consultations, no start date and no construction.
“The Liberals continue to refuse to answer a simple question: Do they believe a pipeline to the Pacific is in Canada’s national interest? When Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Major Projects Office CEO Dawn Farrell were asked that question, they refused to answer. Now, Liberal MPs on the Natural Resources committee won’t even debate the question or put themselves on the record taking a clear stance.
“A pipeline to the Pacific would add over $31 billion to Canada’s economy every year, support an average of 112,000 new jobs and get Canadian energy to Canada’s Asian allies who are desperate to get off dirty dictator oil. This should not be a difficult question to answer. A Pacific pipeline, and pipelines in all directions, are in Canada’s national interest and would benefit Canadians in every corner of the country.
“Investors need certainty to build pipelines that a majority of Canadians support. Instead of more empty promises that the Liberals refuse to deliver, Mark Carney should repeal the anti-development Liberal laws that the Liberals themselves admit block building, and that 97 of the most diverse Canadian energy leaders from all of Canada’s energy sector and of all sizes called on the Liberals to fix.
“Scrapping the Liberal laws that stop projects before there’s a shovel in the ground will create the conditions necessary for the private sector to want and be able to build in Canada. Private companies don’t need subsidies, corporate welfare or top-down central planning and opaque bureaucracy; they need Mark Carney to get out of the way.
“The Liberals’ continued refusal to state clearly whether they believe a Pacific pipeline is in Canada’s national interest is another example of the gap between Liberal rhetoric and Liberal actions. Canadians have heard the promises; what they have not seen are the results.
“Conservatives will continue to support the construction of pipelines in all directions, for the benefit of all Canadians, to increase production, exports, and opportunity, for strength here at home, and unbreakable leverage abroad.”