Jim Carr 'not interested in divisive politics'
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is hitting back against Saskatchewan's premier who lambasted the federal government for the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline, and called it a West versus East issue.
"I'm not interested in divisive politics," Carr said in an interview with The House.
"I'm not interested in pitting one region against the other. I'm not interested in pitting one sector of the economy against the other," he said. "It's our job to find policy that's in the national interest."
On Thursday, TransCanada announced its plans to cancel the Energy East pipeline project, which was proposed in 2013 when the price of oil was about $100 a barrel.
The project would have carried more than one million barrels of oil every day from Alberta eastward, to be refined in New Brunswick and Quebec, and exported.
Market conditions seem to be a big part of TransCanada's decision to abdandon Energy East, Carr said.
"There is nothing a government can do to control a business decision that's entirely in the hands of shareholders, and those who are responsible to shareholders."
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was scathing in his criticism against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government after news TransCanada would be cancelling the Energy East pipeline project.
Wall said the lengthy regulatory process, which includes greater emissions assessments than what was in place in 2013, was to blame for the pipeline's demise.
"TransCanada made the decision to cancel Energy East — but make no mistake, the reasons for it fall at the feet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government," Wall wrote on Facebook.