CALGARY -- Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage responded Monday afternoon to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's campaign promising Monday to rip up the Keystone XL pipeline deal if he is elected president in November.
"Stopping Keystone was the right decision then and it's still the right decision now. In fact, it's even more important today," Biden policy director Stef Feldman said in a written statement first reported by Politico.
"Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary (of State) John Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as president and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit," she added.
Savage, in a release, said the project provided numerous benefits for both countries, including employment, economic activity and providing a stable source of energy for the U.S. at a time of global volatility.
"The project will put 12,000 Canadians to work and will generate billions of dollars of employment income for Canadian and U.S. workers at a time when they need it most," she said, in addition to adding that, "the majority of American people have consistently backed Keystone XL in large part due to the tens of thousands of U.S. jobs the pipeline will support, and the millions of dollars in tax revenue that will be used to build better communities for American families.
"Rather than speculating about the outcome of the U.S. election, we will spend our time continuing to meet with our U.S. allies and speak to Alberta's role in supporting North American energy independence and security.
"Without more Canadian crude, the U.S. will be subject to increased reliance on heavy crude oil from places like Venezuela and will continue to be a victim of the same price wars and instability we recently witnessed from Russia and Saudi Arabia."
"As our closest friend and ally," she added, "we would expect the U.S. government, regardless of electoral outcome, to respect the Canada-U.S. relationship."
The project was approved by President Trump and is currently under construction.
With files from Canadian Press
