Steinbach MLA, Kelvin Goertzen says discussions last week in Cleveland, Ohio with U.S. legislators helped develop support for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline as well as the reduction of further trade regulations that hurt businesses on both sides of the border.
Legislators on the Canada-U.S. Relations Committee from 11 Midwestern States and 4 provinces considered and passed a resolution in support of the Keystone XL Pipeline that is expected to bring up to 830,000 barrels of crude per day from Alberta oil sands to the United States. In January of this year, the application for the pipeline was not approved by federal officials in the U.S. but a new application has since been filed.
“Because this is a presidential election year and the Keystone XL Pipeline has been the subject of political debate, I wasn’t sure if there would be enough willingness among the State legislators to even discuss the issue,” said Goertzen. “And while it was not unanimous or without debate, I was glad to see a resolution of support approved because it recognizes that it is beneficial to both Canada and the United States.”
Goertzen noted the debate wasn’t around the oil sands itself but simply the Keystone XL Pipeline.
“The fact is that the oil that is being garnered from the Alberta oil sands is going to be sold somewhere. Whether it is in the United States or Asia, it will find a market. It makes sense from the U.S. perspective that they purchase Canadian oil because we are a stable supplier and I was glad that so many States put common sense ahead of politics on this issue,” said Goertzen.
Discussions were also held with business representatives from companies such as food giant Campbell’s Soup on changes to trade regulations to improve commerce between Canada and the United States.
“A key message from business is that they want us to move past thinking of Canada and the U.S. as trade partners and start thinking in terms of being business partners. We are not just trading with each other, we are building and producing things together that are being distributed around the world,” said Goertzen.
