New Brunswick premier still hopes to convince Quebec of Energy East benefits
Posted Dec 5, 2018 5:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SAINT JOHN (660 NEWS) – The premier of New Brunswick says he believes he can convince Quebec’s skeptical premier of the benefits of reviving the Energy East pipeline project.
Higgs, along with a number of premiers and federal politicians, are pressing for a restart of the $16 billion Energy East pipeline project to get oil from Alberta to refineries in Eastern Canada and to an export terminal in Saint John, N.B.
The pipeline would have to pass through Quebec, but Premier Francois Legault has signalled he’s not interested.
Higgs says he’s hoping to convince Legault that Energy East would benefit all provinces including Quebec when the two men are face-to-face this week at a first ministers’ meeting in Montreal.
Alberta is cutting production and buying rail cars in an effort to address slumping prices for its oil.
Higgs says he’s worried the level of transfer payments to provinces like his could be at risk if Alberta’s oil revenues aren’t addressed, and he believes a pipeline to move western crude to Eastern Canada and foreign markets could be the solution.
