Mr. Speaker, proposed major oil and gas pipeline projects need approval if the Canadian economy and the manufacturing sector in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie are to prosper.
Steel pipes produced by Tenaris Algoma Tubes, which employs 650 people and contributes 14% of Sault Ste. Marie's GDP, are sold to Canadian and U.S. customers for a variety of oil and gas drilling applications, including oil and gas pipelines. However, with the American demand for oil and gas being increasingly satisfied by American production, there is no denying that Canada needs alternate markets such as Asia. Developing pipelines for the oil and gas needed by China, South Korea and Japan creates demand for the manufactured products that deliver the oil and gas, which creates demand for the pipes we develop in Sault Ste. Marie.
The approval of pipeline projects is vital to the economy of my riding. According to Tenaris' David McHattie, “Asia is our opportunity”.