Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet has added fuel to the fire in the ongoing energy dispute between Western and Eastern Canada by saying Alberta is destroying the planet through fossil fuel production.At a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, when Blanchet was asked about Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement of a new pipeline proposal to the West Coast, he said, “Let's imagine that Quebec is an independent and free country. We will go on the world stage to say that Alberta is destroying the environment of the whole planet..“So, I will say the same thing, either (a new pipeline) goes through Quebec or it does not."The idea of augmenting the volume of oil and gas that is extracted and then burned and consumed is irresponsible. I would agree with real measures to help Western Canada transform, in time, progressively, its economy, in order to get all of us out of this economy which is destroying the planet slowly, but more and more clearly than ever."Quebec does not produce any commercially viable crude oil and relies entirely on imports to supply its two refineries in Montreal and Lévis, which together process about 370,000 barrels per day.The majority of this crude — between 44% and 60% — comes from Western Canada, primarily Alberta, through pipelines like Enbridge Line 9 and supplementary rail shipments.Also, Quebec has a history of accepting oil from Saudi Arabia despite that country’s history of human rights violations.In 2023, Canada imported approximately 490,000 barrels of oil per day, with about 53,000 barrels per day sourced from Saudi Arabia..UPDATED: Alberta government slated to spend $14M in early planning for West Coast oil pipeline.Quebec, along with New Brunswick, remains a major importer of crude oil, primarily due to the inability of its refineries to process heavy crude oil from Western Canada.Critics reacted to the comments on X, with political commentator @cbcwatcher saying, “Blanchet's smug superiority is based on being a sponge for equalization payments.”The Republican Party of Alberta also chimed in, saying Blanchet’s comments were the “height of hypocrisy,” with Quebec having “long been the spoiled child of Confederation” and having relied “on Alberta's resources while criticizing our energy sector.”“It's time for Alberta to demand a fair deal and no longer tolerate being vilified while our resources are exploited. It's time for Alberta independence.”The Western Standard has reached out to Premier Smith’s office for comment..Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
