NOTLEY STATEMENT ON KEYSTONE XL

NDP Official Opposition Leader Rachel Notley issued the following statement regarding Joe Biden’s intention to veto Keystone XL:

“Keystone XL is an incredibly important project to our oil and gas sector, and province as a whole.

“But the project always came with significant political and legal risk. Premier Kenney has already committed $1.5 billion dollars to this project. And if the project fails, a further $6 billion will be paid by Albertans - for nothing. That’s why we asked for details of the deal and all economic and risk analyses when the Premier and his UCP Government committed up to $7.5 billion to the project.

“Unfortunately, these calls fell on deaf ears and Jason Kenney has effectively placed a $7.5 billion bet on Donald Trump winning the White House. But the problem is the money doesn’t belong to Jason Kenney - it belongs to the people of Alberta. 

“There are still ongoing legal challenges to KXL and because of Jason Kenney’s rushed deal, Alberta has no legal standing. 

“It should come as no surprise that Joe Biden is opposed to the project. As the former Vice-President, he was a vital member of the Obama administration and even stood next to President Obama as his administration rejected the permit in 2015.

“We agree that it is important to keep making the case to American lawmakers about the need for the pipeline while taking real action to improve our environmental record in this sector. 

“But it is also time for the UCP to finally come clean and release the details of this deal, so Albertans can evaluate the risk for themselves.”