Get Out of the Way
Ottawa, ON –The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, released the following statement:
“A Conservative government would approve a pipeline to the Pacific without a carbon tax, without delay, without excuses. Period.
“Conservatives want stronger take-home pay and a self-reliant economy for Canadians. Unblocking our oil and gas will boost paycheques and the Canadian dollar so Canadians get more for their money and life becomes affordable. More oil and gas revenues means more money for schools and hospitals, building affordable homes and lowering the cost of food.
“We need a pipeline to the Pacific to get world prices for our product and limit our reliance on a single market. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Mark Carney stands in the way of it all, with federal rules and taxes that drive production out, paycheques down and cost of living up.
“Today’s memorandum does not promise a pipeline will be built. It promises that seven months from now, a pipeline proposal will be referred to a federal office for two further years of study. After that, the Prime Minister will award B.C.’s NDP Premier the power to veto it altogether – a veto that violates the Constitution.
“This from a Prime Minister who promised during the election to move with ‘unimaginable speed.’
“The deal further proposes raising the Liberal Industrial Carbon Tax that will drive production out, paycheques down, and the cost of living up.
“We are happy to see that the Alberta Premier forced the Prime Minister to flip-flop on some of his other costly environmental policies that he supported until a few weeks ago. But the deal does not bring a new pipeline to the Pacific; it brings higher taxes, long delays and more dependence on the U.S.
“The Prime Minister needs to do only one thing to get the pipeline built: get out of the way. Under Section 92(10)(a) of the Constitution, the federal government has exclusive authority to approve an interprovincial pipeline. Under Bill C-5, the Prime Minister gave himself the power to approve federal projects, including by going around regulations and laws.
“This is his decision. Everything else – the endless committees, meetings, studies, paperwork, memorandums – is a distraction to delay and deflect responsibility away from the Prime Minister. So he can dangle a possible future pipeline in front of Canadians while promising anti-oil MPs in his Liberal caucus that he and David Eby will kill the project after the next election.
“He promised projects with ‘things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven’t seen in generations.’ He promised to ‘build now’. Yet, it’s been eight months. Still nothing but press conferences and paper shuffling.
“He only needs to do one thing for a pipeline to happen: get out of the way. Get out of the way by repealing the Industrial Carbon Tax to lower prices and make production and pipelines profitable; Get out of the way by granting a permit for a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific.
“Get out of the way and unblock the trillions of dollars of private sector energy investment to produce more oil and gas, build profitable pipelines and ship a million barrels of oil to Asia a day at world prices. That would boost Canadian paycheques and strengthen the Canadian dollar to make energy, food and homes become affordable and our economy self-reliant, secure and sovereign.”