The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.
Brad Wall is the premier of Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says the Energy East pipeline will be an economic boon to Canada, and to Ontario and Quebec in particular.
Plans for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline that will move Alberta and Saskatchewan conventional oil to Atlantic Canada for refining while replacing the need for eastern Canada to import foreign oil are prompting considerable national debate. The National Energy Board is conducting a full review of the proposal as they are mandated to do.
We in Saskatchewan support the Energy East proposal. The project will generate significant economic activity, create jobs and increase tax revenue — particularly in Ontario and Quebec.
Energy East has been described as the largest pipeline project in Canada in over 50 years. A current gas pipeline with excess capacity will be repurposed to move western Canadian oil to refineries in eastern Canada. Two-thirds of the pipeline is already in the ground.
A pair of comprehensive analyses have been done on the proposal: one by Deloitte, the other by the Conference Board of Canada. Both point to the substantial benefits TransCanada’s plan will achieve.
The Deloitte report projects $35 billion in additional GDP activity over the life of the Energy East project. Of that $6.3 billion will be seen in Quebec and $13 billion in Ontario. As TransCanada notes, that’s roughly the same as the contribution made by the auto sector.
Deloitte also notes about $10 billion in additional tax revenues over the lifetime of the project. Of that, Quebec will receive 20 per cent of that total, Ontario 36 per cent.
It is also estimated that Energy East will create 10,000 full-time jobs in a construction phase lasting six years, once again mostly in eastern Canada.
Energy East is in the very initial stages of its National Energy Board review. During that review, these estimates will be subjected to scrutiny and interested parties from across the country will be invited to contribute. A $2.5-million fund has also been set up to assist those who wish to appear but do not have the means to do so.
For the rest of this column, click here: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/11/25/brad_wall_ontario_quebec_should_embrace_energy_east_pipeline.html