Today, Jason Kenney kicked off construction of the Alberta leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project more than 12 years in the making.
What does that mean for Albertans?
2,000 new jobs for construction workers.
269 km of new pipeline.
It’s estimated that the pipeline will generate $30 billion in tax and royalty revenues for the province during the pipeline’s lifetime.
That means more funding to pay for the world class health care and education that Albertans depend on.
The news came just a day after the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the last legal effort to try and block the federal approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
This is good news. Really good news.
During the last election campaign, United Conservatives promised Albertans to do all that was within our power to get stalled pipelines like Keystone XL moving. And that’s exactly what Jason Kenney has done since Albertans sent United Conservatives to the legislature with a historic mandate on jobs, the economy, and pipelines. When Keystone XL was threatened, Alberta stepped in to ensure shovels got in the ground.
Jason Kenney said Keystone XL comes with major benefits for Albertans, Canadians and all of North America.
“We were not prepared to sit here passively having other people in other countries or the foreign funded campaign of special interests seeking to landlock our industry,” Kenney said. “We weren’t going to let them impose things on us. We are taking the initiative.”
Support of Keystone XL is part of Alberta’s major recovery plan announced last week. You can read more about Alberta’s recovery plan here