OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has predicted the contentious Keystone XL pipeline will someday get approval from the United States — even if the Obama administration rejects the project and Canada has to continue its “fight” in the future.
Harper made the comments in an interview with CNBC recorded while he was in New York City earlier this week.
The interview was broadcast Friday, and the sharp tone of his remarks was similar to other comments made at a gathering of business people Thursday, when he said Canada would not “take no for an answer” as the U.S. looks at whether to give Keystone the green light.
Harper went even further in his interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, who asked if Canada has a “plan B” if U.S. President Barack Obama prevents the construction of the proposed pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.
[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]“We will keep pushing for it,” said Harper. “Look, we will not abandon this. Because this is in the interest of both of our countries.”
Harper said the pipeline has “lots of support” in the U.S. — from business, labour and “the population at large.”
“Every state through the pipeline route is now in favour of it. So this is not the kind of thing we can accept a no on.
“If ultimately there were a no, the fight will go on until it is accepted. And it will be accepted eventually.”
The aggressive tone of Harper’s remarks — and the fact they were made on U.S. soil — represent the most direct challenge yet to Obama.
[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]The president has disparaged the project, claiming it will create few jobs and that it could lead to the expansion of the oilsands industry, resulting in excessive emissions of greenhouse gases.
Obama’s stance has been welcomed by a broad alliance of U.S. environmental groups that have made TransCanada‘s proposed pipeline a symbol of their struggle to reduce atmospheric emissions linked to climate change.
Their main argument is that because oilsands extraction and refining produce up to three times more carbon emissions than conventional oil, any pipeline that would allow the expansion of the oilsands should be denied a permit. The oilsands are Canada’s single largest producer of greenhouse gases. Their emissions are predicted to more than double over the next 10 years.
In a Q&A session with the Canadian American Business Council on Thursday, Harper stressed that he wasn’t going to give up on Keystone.
“My view is that you don’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” he said. “We haven’t had that (refusal) but if we were to get that that won’t be final. It won’t be final until (the pipeline) is approved and we will keep pushing forward.”
He argued that economic, environmental and energy security facts all support the ultimate approval of the 1,900-kilometre cross-border pipeline.
“So I think the logic behind this project is simply overwhelming,” he said.
Harper reiterated in his interview with CNBC that the pipeline would allow the U.S. to replace heavy oil from countries such as Venezuela, where “emissions and practices are… far more harmful to the environment than anything in Canada.”
Harper said that Obama’s own State Department had already made a “clear, very strong” case for the pipeline and it had forecast the project would create about 40,000 jobs.
“We hear about the environmental criticism, but the fact is the environmental effects as noted by the State Department are negligible.”
Meanwhile, in the interview, Harper was also asked if the proposed acquisition of BlackBerry would require a federal review.
He said that only happens in certain foreign acquisitions and that this “doesn’t appear” to be the case with BlackBerry — although he added it was an “evolving situation.”
“If it’s a foreign acquisition above a certain dollar figure, the government would review it and would review it obviously on broad grounds but also all decisions in particularly the technology space would be reviewed on national security grounds as well. “
