Re: Stéphane Dion criticizes Thomas Mulcair for East-West strategy
Mulcair says he's not beating up on West with oilsands critique
OTTAWA — New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair dismissed on Tuesday criticism of him from the premiers of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, saying they're simply acting as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "messengers" in the NDP's fight with Harper over the impact of the oilsands industry on the Canadian economy.
Mulcair said Harper, an economist, knows the NDP is correct in asserting that booming bitumen exports hurt Canadian manufacturers and cause huge job losses.
"He's not going to try to contest that. What he's going to try to do is send in messengers to take that argument to me. I'm not responding to any of them," Mulcair said in an interview.
"My argument is in the House of Commons with the federal prime minister who is failing Canadians."
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, leader of the right-of-centre Saskatchewan Party, was the first to criticize Mulcair's recent statements on CBC about the oilsands industry's role in creating an artificially high Canadian dollar.
Wall called Mulcair's comments "facile" and "divisive."
B.C. Premier Christy Clark, leader of the centre-right provincial Liberal party, labeled the NDP leader's analysis "goofy" and said it showed the federal party opposes economic development.
Alberta's Conservative Premier Alison Redford also questioned Mulcair's statements, though she was far milder than her environment minister, Diana McQueen, who accused Mulcair of engaging in "old-style politics — trying to pit one part of the country against another."
Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion got into the fray Monday, revealing that he turned down a proposal from party strategists before the 2008 election to try to exploit Canadian misgivings over environmental damage caused by oilsands operations.
Dion said Mulcair's statements were damaging to "national cohesion."
Mulcair rejected media speculation he's trying to win support in vote-rich regions like Ontario, Quebec and parts of B.C. at the expense of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where he has only a single MP — Linda Duncan of Edmonton.
"I never said it's the fault of provinces like Alberta," he said.
Mulcair said blame for Canada's high dollar rests squarely on the shoulders of federal governments that have failed to enforce existing laws like the Fisheries Act.
Harper is "allowing a situation to be created where . . . anything that's being exported right now is being clobbered by the artificially high Canadian dollar," he said.
"It is artificially high because of the unbridled development where we're not enforcing existing rules."
He compared oilsands operations to "a factory where you're producing a product and you're pushing the refuse from the production into the river in the back.
"When you claim you're making a profit you haven't paid the $90 a ton you should be paying to dispose of it in a sanitary landfill. You're not applying basic rules of sustainable development like polluter-pay.
"That has nothing to do with the province of Alberta. I never mentioned, blamed or talked about the province of Alberta.
"What I indeed said in that in the House of Commons is that this indeed applies to raw bitumen as it does to raw logs, and I also took the trouble to say it applies as much to Alberta as it does to northern Ontario or in the Maritimes with regard to shale gas."
Mulcair also said he conditionally supports Enbridge Inc.'s proposal to reverse the flow of oil on a pipeline between Sarnia and the Hamilton area as long as it passes a "rigorous" environmental review.
Mulcair said the proposal, opposed by a coalition of environmental groups, would be good for Canada if it means more work for Canadian refineries.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/busi...est+with+oilsands+critique/6626522/story.html
Mulcair says he's not beating up on West with oilsands critique
OTTAWA — New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair dismissed on Tuesday criticism of him from the premiers of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, saying they're simply acting as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "messengers" in the NDP's fight with Harper over the impact of the oilsands industry on the Canadian economy.
Mulcair said Harper, an economist, knows the NDP is correct in asserting that booming bitumen exports hurt Canadian manufacturers and cause huge job losses.
"He's not going to try to contest that. What he's going to try to do is send in messengers to take that argument to me. I'm not responding to any of them," Mulcair said in an interview.
"My argument is in the House of Commons with the federal prime minister who is failing Canadians."
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, leader of the right-of-centre Saskatchewan Party, was the first to criticize Mulcair's recent statements on CBC about the oilsands industry's role in creating an artificially high Canadian dollar.
Wall called Mulcair's comments "facile" and "divisive."
B.C. Premier Christy Clark, leader of the centre-right provincial Liberal party, labeled the NDP leader's analysis "goofy" and said it showed the federal party opposes economic development.
Alberta's Conservative Premier Alison Redford also questioned Mulcair's statements, though she was far milder than her environment minister, Diana McQueen, who accused Mulcair of engaging in "old-style politics — trying to pit one part of the country against another."
Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion got into the fray Monday, revealing that he turned down a proposal from party strategists before the 2008 election to try to exploit Canadian misgivings over environmental damage caused by oilsands operations.
Dion said Mulcair's statements were damaging to "national cohesion."
Mulcair rejected media speculation he's trying to win support in vote-rich regions like Ontario, Quebec and parts of B.C. at the expense of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where he has only a single MP — Linda Duncan of Edmonton.
"I never said it's the fault of provinces like Alberta," he said.
Mulcair said blame for Canada's high dollar rests squarely on the shoulders of federal governments that have failed to enforce existing laws like the Fisheries Act.
Harper is "allowing a situation to be created where . . . anything that's being exported right now is being clobbered by the artificially high Canadian dollar," he said.
"It is artificially high because of the unbridled development where we're not enforcing existing rules."
He compared oilsands operations to "a factory where you're producing a product and you're pushing the refuse from the production into the river in the back.
"When you claim you're making a profit you haven't paid the $90 a ton you should be paying to dispose of it in a sanitary landfill. You're not applying basic rules of sustainable development like polluter-pay.
"That has nothing to do with the province of Alberta. I never mentioned, blamed or talked about the province of Alberta.
"What I indeed said in that in the House of Commons is that this indeed applies to raw bitumen as it does to raw logs, and I also took the trouble to say it applies as much to Alberta as it does to northern Ontario or in the Maritimes with regard to shale gas."
Mulcair also said he conditionally supports Enbridge Inc.'s proposal to reverse the flow of oil on a pipeline between Sarnia and the Hamilton area as long as it passes a "rigorous" environmental review.
Mulcair said the proposal, opposed by a coalition of environmental groups, would be good for Canada if it means more work for Canadian refineries.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/busi...est+with+oilsands+critique/6626522/story.html
