Alberta Premier welcomes pipeline announcements

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has issued the following statement regarding the federal government’s decisions on energy infrastructure. 

“To begin, I want to thank Prime Minister Trudeau and his government for approving these energy infrastructure projects, which are critically important to the economic future of the people of Alberta.

“Prime Minister Trudeau is showing some extraordinary leadership today.

“Our province has been brutally slammed by the collapse in commodity prices.

“It has been a long, dark night for the people of Alberta as a result.

“Today we are finally seeing some morning light.

“We are getting a chance to break our landlock. We’re getting a chance to sell to China and other new markets at better prices. We’re getting a chance to reduce our dependence on one market, and therefore to be more economically independent. And we’re getting a chance to pick ourselves up and move forward again.

“Of equal importance, we are building the economy within a strong new national environmental policy.

“We are getting out of coal by 2030.

“We are implementing an emissions cap in the oil sands.

“And we will all be phasing in a $50 carbon levy to help reduce emissions and to help finance a transition to a lower-carbon economy.

“To all Canadians, I say this:

“We don’t have to choose between the environment and building the economy.

“Canada is going to be a global leader on climate change.

“And our country will still create jobs and greater economic equality.

“To the people of Alberta, I say this:

“Albertans are used to being leaders, and that’s what we doing here today.

“We all knew our province had driven itself into a dead end. So Albertans decided it was time for a change.

“That included ending climate change denial, and that included working constructively with other Canadians instead of just shouting at them.

“As we’re showing here today, that’s how to actually get results.

“And finally, to our neighbours in British Columbia, I say this:

“B.C. was an early leader on addressing climate change. The rest of us are now catching up to you.

“B.C. has always argued for strong measures to protect our coast and its waters. That is going to happen, and must happen.

“And B.C. has always played a key role in building our national economy, as Canada’s leader and gateway to the biggest market in the world – the Asia-Pacific.

“These B.C. priorities are now shaping all of our priorities.

“We are putting in place a strong national climate-change policy.

“And we are getting on with creating jobs and economic equality, under the terms of that new policy.

“Which demonstrates, as clearly as it possibly can, that we don’t have to ask working families to choose between protecting the environment and having a decent chance to make a decent living. We can do both. We are doing both.

“Let’s work together right across this country to protect our environment. And let’s work together – as we’re doing today – to show that there will be jobs and prosperity for Canadians in a greener future.

“Thank you.”

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