Mr. Speaker, on his first day in office, U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that is critical to Canada's economic interests, and pushed 1,000 people into unemployment immediately. The Prime Minister responded by waving a white flag. He got so tough that he declared how much he was looking forward to working with the new President on their mutual goals.
The government has told Canadians the President is keeping his campaign promise and that we ought to move on. It is easy to say if one is a Prime Minister who recently shut down Parliament and spent most of his time at his home and cottage while hard-working Canadians went to work and others were being put out of their jobs. What the Prime Minister is really telling hard-working Canadians in the oil and gas sector, and the industries that support it, is that they ought to move on from the much-needed jobs that support their livelihoods. They ought to move on from making sure they can put food on the table and provide for themselves and their children. That Albertans ought to move on from an industry that gets us to work, keeps our houses warm when it is -20°C outside, and supplies all of the plastics in the PPE that has been so valuable during this pandemic.
Here are the facts. Canadians are being asked to move on from a thousand direct construction jobs, an anticipated 2,800 directly related projects with jobs that could be available in Alberta, a $1 billion equity investment in Keystone XL by Natural Law Energy, which represents five first nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, $1.1 billion of Government of Alberta investment, and manufacturing jobs in Ontario and elsewhere that support oil and gas development, not to mention all of the potential jobs and internships for newly graduated students. Recently, when I was doing Zoom meetings with a lot of students, that was what they were worried about: that there would be no more jobs or internships. This is a direct attack on those students.
Must I remind the Prime Minister that Canada is in the middle of the greatest public health crisis and economic shock this country has seen in many decades? The government squandered an opportunity to bolster economic development during a time when Canadians most desperately need it and instead is looking for the great reset, none of which is appealing to Albertans or most Canadians. Many businesses in Alberta and throughout the country have closed because of the pandemic. The vacancies of office space in downtown Calgary are staggering. Families are struggling to scrape by and people's mental health has been greatly affected.
Through the Keystone XL expansion, we had an opportunity to encourage significant job growth and investment. However, the Prime Minister has abandoned Canadians. While he is more than willing to turn his back on hard-working Canadians and an industry that much of the world envies, the Conservatives will always put Canadians first.
Canadians are tired of a Liberal government that continues to pander to radicals while shaming our own oil and gas sector in the process. The Canadian oil and gas industry is a product of inspiring ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. It is an industry we have every right to be proud of, which is why I found the Prime Minister's response to the President's decision puzzling and weak. We heard about the Prime Minister calling the President and expressing disappointment.
Disappointment is an understatement. Was that really all the Prime Minister could say? Why have we not heard more from the Prime Minister and his government about how great Canadians are at producing our own resources?
Our people and companies are incredible innovators. I recently visited a company that has developed a system that monitors pipelines in real time and transmits information about events instantly. This shows the innovation we are seeing in this industry. While oil production has gone up, our emissions intensity has decreased in a very significant way. To a growing world that needs reliable energy, that is an important fact. Since 2000, Canada's oil sands emissions intensity is down by 20%. Emission levels from new projects are near or better than the average levels of emissions from American crude.
Sadly, the government seems very reluctant to cheer on the accomplishments of Canadians. All across the country, work continues on economic development and environmental protection, yet all they hear from the leader are platitudes about balancing the economy and the environment while he kills their jobs.
Canadian workers are ahead of the government. They care about the environment and they care about their jobs. From a U.S. perspective, why would President Biden say to yes to Keystone XL? From his view in Washington, he has likely watched as the Prime Minister killed northern gateway and energy east. I have no doubt his response to the Prime Minister was “If you don't want your own oil, why would we want it?”