In Wake of Keystone Decision, Prime Minister Harper Tells President Obama that Canada Will Work on Sending Oil to Asia
EmailPresident Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline application, as recommended by the U.S. State Department, was met with disappointment by our friends north of the border.
In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office said that President Obama called him this morning. “The president explained that the decision was not a decision on the merits of the project and that it was without prejudice, meaning that TransCanada is free to reapply,” said the statement. “Prime Minister Harper expressed his profound disappointment with the news. He indicated to President Obama that he hoped that this project would continue given the significant contribution it would make to jobs and economic growth both in Canada and the United States of America.” Pointedly, the statement also says that Harper “reiterated to the president that Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports.”
“Diversify”? What does that mean?
It means Canada will explore selling more of its oil to Asia. As Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver told the CBC: “Our focus is, as you know, on diversifying our markets. We currently have one customer for our energy exports. That customer has said that it doesn’t want to expand at the moment. So it certainly intensifies the broad strategic objective of the government to diversify to Asia.”
Curiously, President Obama’s readout is somewhat less informative:
“President Obama called Prime Minister Harper to personally convey his Administration’s decision on the Keystone pipeline,” the White House statement reads. “The President also reaffirmed the close alliance and friendship between the United States and Canada.”
As we covered earlier today, the project would directly create an estimated 13,000 jobs with the Teamsters Union assessing more than 100,000 others support jobs would be created along the pipeline’s path. Environmentalists and the Republican governor of Nebraska expressed serious misgivings about the impact on sensitive lands in Nebraska.
-Jake Tapper
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Millions of Canadians disagree with Prime Minister Harper. Harper is a right wing conservative who was elected when the center and center left parties split the majority of the vote. Harper was elected with less than 40% of the vote. Six out of 10 Canadians who voted, did not vote for Harper.
Posted by: Steve | January 18, 2012, 6:11 pm 6:11 pm
So Steve is saying that 60% of Canadians are ignorant?
Posted by: Shawn | January 18, 2012, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
So Harper is going to send his oil to China if we don’t build a pipeline for his corporate buddies?
So much for the free market.
Posted by: ktpinnacle | January 18, 2012, 6:35 pm 6:35 pm
The fact is that there are already thousands of miles of pipeline through all parts of Nebraska and no one has had a problem with any of them until this obama cluster—-.. The proof is, this pipeline has already been approved once by the government, and only now is being stymied by an antiAmerican usurper in the White House. Since there is no measurable environmental hazard here, it is clear that the decision was purely ideological (Greenie vote) and corrupt ( Warren Buffett’s personal railroad company wil profit handsomely, carrying oil instead of it being pumped through a pipeline.). See how easy it would be to just tell the truth?
Posted by: robert | January 18, 2012, 6:37 pm 6:37 pm
So Steve is saying that 60% of Canadians are ignorant?
Posted by: Shawn | January 18, 2012, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
That’s kind of an ignorant comment Shawn, typical of a certain type of American.
Posted by: Bill | January 18, 2012, 6:51 pm 6:51 pm
How come Obama is too stupid to come up with the simple solution of building a few refineries in North Dakota?
Posted by: Noz | January 18, 2012, 6:55 pm 6:55 pm
I wonder if secretly President Obama is just a tad bit jealous of Harper? While the Candians got thier act together, throttled their spending, became business friendly, we went the opposite direction and like a bunch of drunks spent the money we had then started borrowing more, try to micro manage every aspect of everyones daily lives and more or less put up the closed sign on business doors.
Having worked in Canada I know they are very tough on regulations and environmental concerns yet seem to work things out just fine.
Posted by: david | January 18, 2012, 7:16 pm 7:16 pm
Steve is out to lunch. I am a loyal Canadian. Harper and his conservative agenda will hopefully repair all the damage done by the liberal commies dating back to pierre trudeau. The french, refugee loving, pro muslim degenerate liberals have destroyed canada and the NDP should be tried for treason. They are separatist pumpers from quebec.
Posted by: Sean | January 18, 2012, 8:18 pm 8:18 pm
robert wrote:”it is clear that the decision was purely ideological (Greenie vote) and corrupt ( Warren Buffett’s personal railroad company wil profit handsomely, carrying oil instead of it being pumped through a pipeline.).”
.
The Canadian tar sand oil has a similar makeup to the sour crude that Gulf Coast refineries have been specially built to handle oil from Venezuela and Brazil for example. You ship the same oil via pipeline versus shipping it by tanker from South America and you have a cheaper source of oil to refineries already optimized for that type of oil Suddenly George Soros and his ownership in Petrobas have a bit of oil that no one else can refine. Suddenly Hugo Chavez has a bit more oil that no one else wants. Who is 0Bama really looking out for?
Posted by: Alo E. Vera | January 18, 2012, 8:28 pm 8:28 pm
While the Candians got thier act together, throttled their spending . . .
Having worked in Canada I know they are very tough on regulations and environmental concerns yet seem to work things out just fine.
Posted by: david | January 18, 2012, 7:16 pm 7:16 pm
Agree very much with your second point, but the first is off the mark.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Canada Records Biggest Deficit in History
It’s official. Stephen Harper’s government has managed to out-do Pierre Trudeau, and take the crown as the biggest deficit spender in Canadian history.
The Harper government has single-handedly managed to inflate the size of the Federal government since taking office in 2006, by approximately 50%.
Remember: conservatives warned us that we had to dispose of the out-of-control spending of previous Liberal governments, which delivered eleven years of balanced budgets, reducing Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio from almost 90% down below 50%.
Stephen Harper and Flaherty have managed to increase Canada’s Debt-to-GDP ratio back up to about 80%, erasing almost a decade of debt repayment.
THIS IS WHERE THE UNITED STATES HAS TO BE CAREFUL!
Right wing parties promise all kinds of things regarding fiscal responsibility, but seldom deliver. On the other hand, it is the liberal governments who are often tasked with the difficult assignment of making the tough cuts – and they do it.
Posted by: Turner | January 18, 2012, 8:35 pm 8:35 pm
Turner, give your head a shake. Read up on the Canadian province of Ontario, one of those utopia’s of liberal fiscal control you like to gush about and tell me how they are not going down the same path as Europe, California, etc…
Posted by: Cooper | January 18, 2012, 11:22 pm 11:22 pm
Posted by: Cooper | January 18, 2012, 11:22 pm 11:22 pm
In Canada, it was the Liberal government of Jean Chretien that attacked the deficits and the debt and left Canada in a very strong position when the 2008 economic crisis hit. On the American side, the Republican president and his majority Republican Congress had begun to run up larger deficits and more debt – such that when the economy collapsed and tax revenues were severely damaged, the country was in very poor shape to withstand the blows.
In the same way, Ronald Reagan’s ‘economic miracle’ was based on tripling the national debt during his eight years in power.
Anyone who believes the Republican party is a self-deluded fool. Look at the right wing Harper’s record in Canada in you need any further proof – record deficits – and yet the lying right wingers on here claim he ‘throttled their spending’.
Keep sharp and smart American, you’re going to need it.
Posted by: Turner | January 19, 2012, 12:26 am 12:26 am
“On the other hand, it is the liberal governments who are often tasked with the difficult assignment of making the tough cuts – and they do it.” – Turner
Unbelievably Wrong.
Posted by: Noz | January 19, 2012, 9:47 am 9:47 am
This PARTISAN HACK of a president has never made a decision that would benefit America…..it has always been all about HIM. The people of this country who are crying out for JOBS are outraged and will take it out on Comrade Obozo in November.
Send this incompetent loser back to Chicago along with the rest of his CORRUPT administration! We need a REAL Leader whose decisions will not be based on the next election and his radical donor’s.
Posted by: Sunnyr | January 19, 2012, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm
Obama is either the most incompetent, ignorant human on the earth or his goal has been to purposely destroy America. Take your pick.
Not only have we lost the future oil and jobs that would help 10′s of thousands of Americans, but we’d already ordered $3 Billion.. yes.. BILLION in material.
Posted by: Celeste | January 20, 2012, 10:40 am 10:40 am