Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the Liberal government for stalling on pipeline projects and driving away investment.Poilievre’s remarks come after a new Globe and Mail report stated that sources have confirmed that Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to add at least four mining and energy developments to the federal government’s “major projects” list on Thursday.However, according to the report’s sources, none of those projects involve new or existing oil and gas pipelines.Speaking to the media in Calgary on Wednesday, Poilievre said, “[This] reminds me of the pub that has a sign on the wall saying, ‘Free beer tomorrow.’ You come back the next day, and it still says, ‘Free beer tomorrow.’ Meanwhile, the price of beer continues to rise and rise.”The Tory leader accused Carney of not having launched a single project that wasn’t already in the works when he took office eight months ago, despite promising to get projects going at “unimaginable speeds.”“Mark Carney needs to do only one thing to get a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific — get out of the way,” Poilievre said.“There are trillions of dollars in international investment ready to go without a dime of government money. All they need is for Ottawa to stop blocking it.".Poilievre accuses Carney of blocking Canada’s energy future.Poilievre again called for the repeal of what he described as “nine bad laws” blocking energy projects, including the federal ban on oil tanker traffic off BC’s north coast.The ban, he said, only applies to Canadian companies.“American tankers can sail between Alaska and California through those same waters,” Poilievre stated.“Why not allow Canadians to do the same?”Earlier this month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated that her government hoped to have reached an agreement with Ottawa on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand bitumen pipeline access to Asian markets and advance the Pathways Plus carbon-capture project by the time of the Grey Cup on Nov. 16.With that deadline set to expire soon, Poilievre challenged the prime minister to set a concrete start date for a new pipeline project.“Memorandums don't pay the bills. We need shovels in the ground,” Poilievre stated.“Mark Carney should get out of the way and tell us on what date shovels will be in the ground on a new one-million-barrel-per-day pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Prince Rupert or Kitimat, BC”“Give us the date, show us where the shovels will hit the ground, and tell us when it will happen.”
