Pipelines were on the agenda but there was no discussion about building them quickly when the Federal Natural Resources Minister met with the leaders of oil and gas in Calgary.
Jim Carr was speaking to business leaders Friday about what needs to be done to kick start Alberta’s slumping economy.
Carr admits there is a lot of industry pressure to get pipelines built but says the federal government is not going to rush things.
"When we're done we want Canadians to say we've been heard, it was a responsible and thorough process which we hope will lead to a better result,“ Carr said. “The Prime Minister says it often and he said it in Calgary that one of the most important responsibilities he has is to ensure that our natural resources get to tide water sustainably."
Carr also touched on Energy East, Transmountain and Keystone pipelines stressing a balance needs to be found between getting Alberta’s product to market and doing it responsibly.
"We are not asking the proponents of these projects to go back to square one,” says Carr. “There will be a far more thorough review of the environmental assessment process in Canada but it won't happen in time for these three projects. “
A decision on Energy East will happen in 2018 or 2019 but a decision on Transmountain is expected sooner.
Carr says the National Energy Review Board will be done in May and the government will announce what it’s going to do in December.
