VICTORIA, B.C.: The Trans Mountain pipeline has reached its maximum capacity and is now carrying 890,000 barrels of oil a day. With demand now exceeding the pipeline’s capacity, the NDP government’s excuse for opposing another pipeline is obsolete, and it is time to start building the next pipeline.

“TMX construction alone delivered $13.5 billion to B.C.’s GDP, $28.9 billion in gross output, and 37,756 person-year jobs in this province,” said Gavin Dew, Conservative Shadow Minister for Economic Development. “Ongoing operations are adding billions more. That’s the proof of concept. These economic benefits were accrued to B.C. despite the NDP using every tool in the toolbox to obstruct the project and drive up the cost by billions of dollars. If they are at all serious about growing the economy and keeping Canada united, the NDP must get on board with the majority of British Columbians who support a new pipeline.”

“A new pipeline project would provide training, skilled trades jobs, and higher wages for B.C. workers and families,” said Kiel Giddens, Shadow Minister for Labour. “The pathway to prosperity comes through nation-building projects like this, not through political obstruction and endless delays. By opposing a new pipeline, the NDP government is depriving B.C. workers of real opportunities and sowing division within our great country.”

“A new pipeline is essential for Canada’s energy sovereignty and to maximize the benefit Canadians see from their resources,” said Larry Neufeld, Shadow Minister for Energy. “Billions of dollars in revenue is lost because of the discounted rate at which Canadian oil is sold to the United States, its only customer. A new pipeline that provides access to Asian markets would change that. It would also mean that we would already have the infrastructure in place to meet the demand for Canadian oil when it spikes, like it is right now because of the war in Iran’s impacts on oil production in the Middle East.”

“By opposing a new pipeline, the NDP government has put its ideology above the wellbeing of the province, and has cost B.C. workers and families for years,” said Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. “Now that the pipeline they told us to ‘just use’ is maxed out and Asian demand is surging, the choice is to build or watch the opportunity and jobs go elsewhere.”

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Media Contact:
Nikki Bal
Conservative.Communications@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948