By Canadian Press

O’Toole says he supports cancelled pipeline due to Indigenous benefits

Aug 30, 2021 | 10:44 AM

KING CITY, ONT. — Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he supports the cancelled Northern Gateway pipeline, largely because it would have provided economic partnerships for Indigenous communities.

O’Toole says he wants to see intergenerational transfers of wealth and opportunities for Indigenous people, after generations of trauma transfers.

While some Indigenous communities signed agreements for benefits from the pipeline, eight First Nations challenged the project in the Federal Court of Appeal, which overturned Ottawa’s approval in 2016 due to lack of Indigenous consultation.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau permanently shelved the project later that year, while approving the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

O’Toole says that Canada’s energy sector is an environmental and social leader, so “over time” as a lower-carbon future materializes, democratic countries should be using Canadian resources, not those from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or Russia.

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The Conservative leader has faced criticism for sticking with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, rather than adopt a target recently increased by the Liberals to between 40 and 45 per cent.

But he says he wants to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, and that Canadian companies both large and small already have programs underway to work toward that goal.

Trudeau’s government put that goal into legislation that passed before Parliament’s summer break — despite the Conservatives voting against it — though the Liberals haven’t yet said how they would meet that objective.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2021.

The Canadian Press