Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is not only miffed with US President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, but also Justin Trudeau’s lack of action, he said in a letter to Trudeau Friday morning.
“I am writing to you to express my profound disappointment on the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and the lack of a federal response to our repeated requests for your personal intervention with the incoming Administration,” Kenney wrote to Trudeau.
“Just as your government stood up for Canadian aluminum and steel workers when faced with an unfair US tariffs in 2018, it is imperative that you take action for the thousands more workers in the energy sector and their vast contributions to the Canadian economy,” he wrote.
On Wednesday, Trudeau gave a half-hearted statement in response to the cancellation of Keystone XL, telling Canadians he is “disappointed but acknowledges the President’s decision to fulfil his election campaign promise.”
Kenney believes there should be “economic consequences” for killing Keystone XL, which he predicts could cost Albertans over US$1 billion. This includes pressuring the United States to compensate TC Energy and the government of Alberta for the costs already incurred on the 1,947 km pipeline project.
In his first day in office, Biden used an executive order to revoke the permit for Keystone XL that former president Donald Trump granted TC Energy in 2017.
The planned pipeline from Hardisty, Alta. to Steele City, Nebraska had a price tag of US$8 billion and would have created approximately 15,000 jobs in both countries.
Construction on the Keystone XL began in July with the approval of the Trump Administration. The Alberta government invested $1.5 billion to start construction, with the cross-border component of the pipeline already in place..
“By retroactively revoking the Presidential permit for this project without taking the time to discuss it with their longest standing ally, the United States is setting a deeply disturbing precedent for any future projects and collaboration between our two nations,” Kenney explained.
“If the US is unwilling to listen, then we must demonstrate that Canada will stand up for Canadian workers and the Canadian economy.”
