By Shaun Penner

Keystone XL

Warkentin sees KXL permit cancellation as partisan move by Biden

Jan 22, 2021 | 2:21 PM

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie’s Member of Parliament believes the federal government must act swiftly in response to new U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to revoke a presidential permit to allow the Keystone XL Pipeline project to proceed.

In response to Biden’s decision to, just hours after his inauguration on Wednesday, revoke the permit and ultimately halt the project, Chris Warkentin says he was not surprised Biden decided to kill the project after he campaigned on such a promise.

But he was taken back by how quickly he chose to do it.

“This is why Canadians, I believe, are so cynical about American politics,” Warkentin told EverythingGP.

“When you have a project that has been built, where billions of dollars have been invested, where you have a project that will assist your closest neighbour and best ally… you have the new President, coming in and kiboshing it from day one. Simply for political reasons.”

Warkentin adds that he feels the decision was purely partisan by the Democratic President, perhaps pointing to the fact the presidential permit was originally granted by the outgoing Republican President Donald Trump.

“It’s devastating for us in Canada, but it speaks to a larger problem in the United States about not doing the right thing, for the right reasons.”

Completion of the near 2,000 kilometre pipeline would see approximately 830,000 barrels of Alberta crude oil sent to Nebraska, before being sent down to ports along the Gulf of Mexico.

Having received Presidential approval, and believing the project was in good standing, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney invested over $1 billion into Keystone XL.

For that, Kenney is imploring Trudeau, in his talk with Biden today, to press for a meeting with him to discuss the project. Should that fail though, Kenney has called for retaliation such as trade sanctions.

Something Warkentin agrees with.

“There’s no question about it. There needs to be action by the federal government to express to the United States the concerns that we have,” said Warkentin.

He adds Trudeau should drive home the point of the billions of dollars in investment on both sides of the border, as well as the ongoing need for energy in the US.

“We know that if Canada does not supply the energy needs in the United States, they will be supplied by foreign countries that don’t have the same rigorous environmental standards and human rights records that we do.”

Warkentin adds that should Trudeau not push for this project; he is concerned about what that will mean for Canada at the bargaining table with the U.S. long-term.

“Today its pipelines, and I suspect in the days and months to come, it will make it harder and harder for the Canadian Prime Minister to articulate support for industries here in Canada that will be impacted by American decisions if we don’t start with a principled position when it comes to this project.”

TC Energy Corp. announced it is planning to eliminate more than 1,000 construction jobs related to the Keystone XL pipeline expansion project after suspending work on Wednesday.

Around 200 kilometres of pipe have already been installed for the expansion, including across the Canada-U.S. border, and construction has begun on pump stations in Alberta and several U.S. states.