Mr. Speaker, I rise today to request that the Government of Canada do what is right and give urgent and favourable consideration to the financial plight of the NewGrade Heavy Oil Upgrader in Regina.
What is at stake is 500 jobs at the upgrader in the oilfields, plus a $275 million loan guarantee from Canada and a $360 million loan guarantee from the province of Saskatchewan.
An independent commission in 1993 recommended a federal financial contribution of $150 million is needed to save the project from failure. Although negotiations with the federal government continue, no resolution has been reached.
The NewGrade Upgrader is in imminent danger of shutting down if a financial restructuring program is not reached very soon.
I urge the Government of Canada to proceed in all haste to reach an agreement with the province of Saskatchewan and the Federated Co-ops Limited to save these 500 jobs as it promised in its red book.