Liberals to intervene in Alberta economy

February 02, 2007

Ontario MP confirms Dion Liberals would take Alberta back to the days of the National Energy Program

OTTAWA – Today, Conservative MP James Rajotte (Edmonton – Leduc) responded to comments made yesterday by Liberal MP Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering) on Alberta oil sands development.

“The Conservative Party, and in particular the 28 MPs of the Alberta caucus, are deeply concerned with the Liberal direction on energy policy and economic development,” said Rajotte. “We are particularly concerned with Mr. Holland’s call for federal government intervention into oil sands development.”

Appearing on the Charles Adler “Adler OnLine” radio program, Holland, the Liberal Natural Resources critic, declared that a Dion-led Liberal party would use the powers of the state to restrict the development of Alberta’s oil sands. Holland said “(the Dion-led Liberals are) going to say that you cannot exploit (the oilsands)...and blow apart our emissions targets.” Mr. Holland went on to say that “this fallacy that (restricting oil sands development) is going to cost us jobs and cost our economy is just that, it’s a lie.”

“Mr. Holland would know a thing or two about blowing apart emissions targets,” said Rajotte. “When the Liberals were in power with Mr. Dion as Environment Minister, greenhouse gas emissions skyrocketed and air quality rankings dropped to second last in the OECD.”

Canada’s New Government has pledged to make Canada the world’s first clean energy superpower and has recently unveiled a series of programs that will help Canada clean up its environment. These programs include research into technologies like carbon sequestration that will help clean up oil sands development.

“Right now, Alberta is the engine driving the Canadian economy,” Rajotte said. “This kind of thinking from Mr. Dion and Mr. Holland is a sign that the Liberals have never truly moved away from their past and the strong centralizing tendencies of the Trudeau era.”

For more information on the government’s environmental initiatives, please visit www.ecoenergy.gc.ca



For more information, please contact: Office of James Rajotte (780) 495-4351