Canadian producers would get $30-40 less per barrel if Keystone goes ahead.
by Samantha Bayard
Fresh from last week's trip to Washington and New York, NDP leader Tom Mulcair offered his most direct criticism to date of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would transport Alberta bitumen — tar sands — to refineries in Texas.
Although Heritage Minister James Moore upbraided him in the House for going on a trip on which he "Attack[ed] Canadian jobs and attacks Canadian exports," Mulcair responded that his concerns are based on possible job loss and the failure of Conservatives to enforce environmental laws.
While still not directly attacking Keystone, Mulcair later told reporters, "One of the pipelines currently being considered would represent the export of 40,000 jobs to the US. We think that we should take care of Canada’s own energy security first. We think we should be getting a better price for the producers — and therefore more royalties for the producing provinces — by moving product from west to east, where we’re paying the full Brent crude price. We’re getting about $30, $40 less per barrel. We’re not even getting the WTI, the West Texas Intermediate price anymore. There’s this new Western Canada select price. So they’re getting a depressed price for their product."
Tom Mulcair says the Keystone XL pipeline will be a bad deal for Canadians. 
Mulcair says another concern is the lack of environmental assessment as a result of Conservative omnibus budget bills. "One of the biggest problems we have right now in Canada is that the Conservatives have gutted all environmental reviews," he said. "We no longer have environmental legislation that the public trusts. There's an absence of a complete credible environmental process.
"There are proposals that are on the table… I’ll give you one concrete example that you know about, I’m sure. There’s a proposal from one company to reverse an existing [pipe]line. That poses a technical, scientific question. Is there going to be increased erosion of that line because you’re putting, instead of what’s in there now, you’re putting in diluted bitumen with the attendant condensates. Is that going to prove to be a problem? That’s a scientific question. It should be able to be looked at objectively. There’s no objective process in place to look at it anymore in Canada."
About Samantha Bayard
Samantha Bayard is a young journalist living and working out of Ottawa. She has been a contributor to the Straight Goods News family of websites since 2009. She is an avid cyclist and lover of animals.
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