Shannon Stubbs, MP Condemns Liberal Position on Keystone XL Pipeline

Ottawa, ON—Last week, the Minister of Natural resources gave comments detailing the Liberal plan on pipelines. Shannon Stubbs, MP for Lakeland pressed the Minister in the House of Commons on Friday for answers. 

 “Thousands of Albertans are out of work and have been for over a year, and not one additional full-time job has been created in Canada under the Liberals in that same time. Meanwhile, the U.S. President-elect said he will approve Keystone XL within 100 days of taking office, but our Minister of Natural Resources says it is ‘not a priority,’” questioned Stubbs.

In response to this question, MP Stubbs was surprised when Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development rose to answer, instead of the Minister of Natural Resources.

“We have been very clear that jobs are a priority for our government,” said Minister Bains. “..we have created 139,600 jobs. These jobs are across the country, including in Alberta. Just to highlight some examples with respect to jobs, we supported the relocation of Bell Helicopter, which created 1000 jobs in Quebec. GM Canada expanded its engineering and software developments. Again, these help young people find meaningful employment, a thousand jobs for them as well,” concluded Minister Bains.

The Minister’s comments cited job creation in other parts of the country; however his examples did not focus on Alberta. “This response shows just how out of touch the Liberals are regarding job losses in Alberta. The people in my home province have been struggling for over a year.