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CALGARY— Supporters of Alberta’s oil sands say Ontario needs to do more to publicly defend the resource, including standing up for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, since its economy is the country’s second-largest beneficiary from the production of the gooey bitumen.
According to Alberta Premier Alison Redford, in Chicago for a few days talking up her province’s oil and gas industry, Quebec also needs to do its part to tell Alberta’s story. This is particularly important, she said, on the issue of the $7-billion pipeline that would link Canada to Texas, a project delayed by the White House.
And the rookie Premier, set to soon visit New York and Washington as well, isn’t alone. Pundits and industry are also calling on the have-not provinces to come to oil-rich Alberta’s aid.
“We in Alberta have a resource that matters to the rest of the country,” Ms. Redford recently told members of the Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada in Calgary, “It’s not enough for Alberta to be talking about the importance of Keystone in the United States. We need the Premier of Ontario talking about that. We need the Premier of Quebec talking about that, and of course, we have the Prime Minister of Canada talking about that.”
Some have argued that for some time that governments, including Alberta and Ottawa, haven’t been doing enough to sell the oil sands to Canadians and beyond. Ms. Redford, who heads into her first election as Premier this spring, aims to turn that around by staring down environmentalist critics with her own vocal lobbying at home and aboard.
“We have to find ways to make an emotional connection between the resources we have in this province and the citizens of Canada’s commitment to the development of those resources,” Ms. Redford said.
A spokesperson with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office declined comment.
The province enjoys the lion’s share of oil-sands benefits outside Alberta. Between 2010 and 2035, Ontario is expected to see $63-billion in economic spinoffs and 65,520 oil-sands-related jobs, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute.
The Calgary-based think tank calculates that 94 per cent of the economic benefits of the oil sands (about $84-billion annually through 2035) stay in Alberta, but many of the materials needed for oil-sands development, such as vehicles and their parts, as well as pumps and gauges, are manufactured in Ontario and elsewhere far from the oil sands.
CERI also projected that over the same 25-year time frame, British Columbia could expect $28-billion in economic benefits and 31,500 jobs connected to the oil sands, while Quebec may see $14-billion and 16,380 jobs.
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