Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Trudeau Visits Alberta Pipeline Site, Says National Unity Is Not Under Threat

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Jul, 2019 08:56 PM

    EDMONTON - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dismissing claims by conservative politicians that national unity is under threat.

     

    The Liberal leader says conservative politicians are playing petty politics, which is hurting people across the country.

     

    "Conservative politicians are choosing to play a high degree of politics, including bringing up threats to national unity, which we categorically reject," Trudeau said Friday.

     

    Trudeau stopped to visit workers at Edmonton's Trans Mountain pipeline terminal, which is the start of the line that carries Alberta oil to a terminal in Burnaby, B.C.

     

    It has been almost a month since Trudeau gave a second go-ahead to expanding the pipeline, after the courts overturned his government's original approval.

     

    The Federal Court of Appeal ruled Ottawa hadn't done a good enough job with environmental reviews of the project, or consulting with Indigenous groups. Other politicians called on Ottawa to appeal, but it followed the court's decision with more consultations.

     

    In Edmonton, Trudeau said that if it had appealed, the only people working on Trans Mountain this summer would be lawyers fighting in court.

     

    He made no new announcements on the project other than to say that shovels would be in the ground "later this construction season."

    He also spent some time talking directly with workers at the terminal.

     

    "The world has changed," Trudeau said. "We're not in a situation where a government can decide this is where we are laying down a railroad or a pipeline and it's just going to happen.

     

    "The processes we have to go through are more complicated now."

     

    Trudeau said that's why the federal government moved forward with Bill C-69, an overhaul of federal environmental assessments for major construction projects, which has been become known as the anti-pipeline bill.

     

    "All it does is say, 'If you actually talk with Indigenous Peoples and if you think about environmental consequences, you are going to be able to move forward in a way that will survive any court challenges people bring forward.' "

     

    Trudeau then spoke with reporters.

     

    "It's important that the prime minister be here to remind Canadians that we do not have to pit one corner of the country against each other, that families here in Alberta want to see a cleaner, greener future for their kids at the same time as they need to keep putting food on their table," he said.

     

    "We are a government that understands both of those things."

     

    Alberta's United Conservative Premier Jason Kenney said Thursday, at the closing of the annual premiers' conference in Saskatoon, that his province is frustrated with the federal government and other jurisdictions because it can't get its resources to market.

     

    The Trans Mountain project has been met with court challenges in B.C., while Quebec is firmly opposed to moving oil through its jurisdiction.

     

    "The level of frustration and alienation that exists in Alberta right now towards Ottawa and the federation is, I believe, at its highest level, certainly in our country's modern history," Kenney told a news conference.

     

    He said he doesn't think Albertans really want to separate — they just want fairness, as their province contributes billions of dollars to the national economy.

     

    Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who chaired the premiers' meeting, has also said Ottawa's energy policies, like Bill C-69 and its carbon tax, are a threat to national unity.

     

    Following his morning stop in Edmonton, Trudeau travelled to Calgary and he mingled with people eating lunch at a downtown diner alongside Liberal Calgary Centre MP Kent Hehr.

     

    He had private meetings planned for the rest of the day, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

     

    On Saturday, Trudeau is scheduled to attend a Stampede reception for Liberal Party donors.

     

    — With files from Lauren Krugel in Calgary.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Trailers, Vehicles, Boats Removed From Saskatchewan Campground After Tornadoes

    Trailers, Vehicles, Boats Removed From Saskatchewan Campground After Tornadoes
    GOODSOIL, Sask. — Cleanup continues at a Saskatchewan campground following two tornadoes that snapped trees and caused severe damage on the Canada Day long weekend.

    Trailers, Vehicles, Boats Removed From Saskatchewan Campground After Tornadoes

    Governor General Julie Payette Won't Move Into Rideau Hall Until Further Notice

    OTTAWA — The Governor General will not move into her official residence in Ottawa this summer and there is no date for when she might.    

    Governor General Julie Payette Won't Move Into Rideau Hall Until Further Notice

    'Naive' Canada Shouldn't Believe Trump Asked Xi About Kovrig, Spavor: China

    OTTAWA — The Chinese government is accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being naive in assuming that President Donald Trump did him any favours by raising the case of two imprisoned Canadians with President Xi Jinping.

    'Naive' Canada Shouldn't Believe Trump Asked Xi About Kovrig, Spavor: China

    Montreal Unveils Plan To Respond To Heatwaves After 66 Deaths Last Year

    Montreal's mayor is unveiling the city's plan to respond to heatwaves after dozens of people died amid high temperatures last summer.

    Montreal Unveils Plan To Respond To Heatwaves After 66 Deaths Last Year

    Firefighter Rappels Down P.E.I. Embankment To Rescue Frightened Dog From Ledge

    Firefighter Rappels Down P.E.I. Embankment To Rescue Frightened Dog From Ledge
    CORNWALL, P.E.I. — P.E.I. firefighters ably handled an unlikely rescue mission on Tuesday: A frightened dog that had fallen onto a rocky outcropping.

    Firefighter Rappels Down P.E.I. Embankment To Rescue Frightened Dog From Ledge

    Newfoundland Travellers Contract Mysterious Disease Traced To Cave Trip In Cuba

    Terri Murphy of Paradise, N.L., travelled to Cuba with her husband on April 27, but her fever-like symptoms didn't appear until May 21, weeks after she returned home.    

    Newfoundland Travellers Contract Mysterious Disease Traced To Cave Trip In Cuba