Date of publication: Mar 25, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 623 Comments The candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre. Photo by ALEX FILIPE / POSTMEDIA
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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to ban all oil imports abroad within five years of his election as prime minister, as well as removing government bureaucracy he says is blocking the construction of a pipeline from the West to the East.
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“The purchase of oil abroad by polluting dictatorships is terrible for our environment. “It exports our jobs, our money and our pollution to countries with poor ecological standards,” Poilievre said during a campaign in Saint John, NB. “Instead, let’s bring jobs, money and business to the most environmentally responsible energy sector in the world here in Canada,” he added. Although the vast majority of Canadian crude oil imports are from the United States, nearly a quarter (126,000 barrels per day in 2020) come from overseas, according to the Canadian Energy Regulatory Authority (CER).
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Most of this volume comes from Saudi Arabia, from which Canada imported 73,600 barrels of crude oil per day. In 2020, Canada also imported more than 23,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Nigeria and 16,000 from Norway. During his speech, Poilievre said that the ban abroad is mainly aimed at countries ruled by “polluting dictatorships”. “It’s crazy to live in a country that has these huge resources, that could take money out of the pockets of dirty dictators and put it in the pockets of everyday Canadians, which is more environmentally friendly and ethical – and just “Do not do it,” said Poilievre. He also accused the Liberals and the NDP, who reached an agreement this week that could keep Justin Trudeau in power until 2025, of supporting only the oil industry “if it is foreign oil”.
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To offset falling crude oil imports, Poilievre told the New Brunswickers that he would double Newfoundland offshore oil production. He also promised to remove bureaucracy that he says prevents companies from developing power lines from the West to the East (the “best option”) and to facilitate rail work. Poilievre’s campaign says support for the New Earth and Labrador government’s plan to more than double oil production to 650,000 barrels per day from 244,000 will offset the decline in overseas imports alone. His government will support this increase by repealing the controversial Trinto C-69 Act, which obliges the Canadian Energy Regulatory Authority to consider the impact on human health, local communities and the environment when evaluating future infrastructure projects.
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It also promises to “quickly” approve the “environmentally responsible” extensions of the province’s offshore oil industry, ie by removing the “government guards” – the bureaucracy. A key part of Poilievre’s plan to increase oil production in Atlantic Canada is the Irving Oil refinery, which imported more than half of its crude oil from sources outside the United States between 2018 and 2020, according to CER data. “The capacity of the Irving Oil refinery is currently 320,000 barrels per day. “Doubling Newfoundland production (as planned) will completely displace oil abroad,” Poilievre said, adding that the province’s own forecasts say production could reach 650,000 barrels per day by 2030. “This is a huge amount and it would keep the gas tanks full and the heating prices lower for the whole country.”
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The Conservative MP also reaffirmed his commitment to help transport oil from western Canada to the east coast, facilitating a new national pipeline from West to East. “We will remove government guards at home and stop paying dictators abroad. Consumers will know when they fill their tanks that they are providing checks to Canadians, not money to despots. “Canadians will regain control of their lives in the freest country in the world.” Poilievre’s promises come as Canada bans imports of Russian oil products as a sanction against President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine almost a month ago. Canada has not imported crude oil from Russia since 2020 and only 3% of our crude imports came from there in 2019. Poilievre also called on the liberal government to “immediately” approve the Bay du Nord project, which would use a production, storage and unloading vessel to develop an oil field on the Flemish Pass. Norwegian oil company Equinor is behind the project, which says it can produce up to 200,000 barrels a day. The Trinto government has repeatedly delayed a final decision, which needs the approval of Environment Minister Steven Gilbo. The decision is now expected in mid-April.
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