Mark Carney has admitted that ending Quebec's reliance on American oil would provide a "big advantage" to Canada.
The Liberal leader stopped short, however, of vowing to ensure Canadian crude can make it directly from Alberta to La Belle province.
During a press conference in Victoria, BC on Monday, Carney was asked about developing conventional energy amid a push to go green. He brought up Quebec, explaining that as of now, 70% of the 350,000 barrels of oil the province uses per day comes from the United States.
"There's a big advantage to Canada to push [the American oil] out," he said, "use our own oil, use the resources from that for other things including protecting our environment and social programs."
Carney made it clear, however, that such a move would only be made with the support of First Nations and all provinces.
He went on to explain that close to 30% of Canada's emissions come from the production and transportation of oil and gas, also known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. He said it was an "unusually high figure relative to other countries," and made it clear he wanted to reduce it.
"We can get those emissions down with Canadian technology," Carney continued, "and one of the great opportunities for Alberta, for Canada, ultimately for the world, is to advance carbon capture and storage" via the "Pathways Project."
He said it was possible to reconcile a need for oil and a desire to reduce emissions, adding that "producing more" domestically "has the advantage of pushing out foreign supplies, makes Canada richer, pays for our social programs, gets good jobs, helps support our environment."
Carney has come under fire for openly refusing to repeal Bill C-69, which has blocked the construction of pipelines that would transport oil from the west to Quebec and beyond.
During a rally in Penticton, BC on Saturday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre slammed the Liberals for making Canada reliant on the Americans on a number of fronts, not least when it comes to energy.
"The Western Canadian oil that goes to Quebec and Ontario has to travel through two American pipelines," he said. "If ever the trade war got serious enough, the Americans could cut us off from our own energy supply."
The Conservative leader accused the Liberals under Justin Trudeau of making Canada “helpless and economically vulnerable” by blocking pipelines, and said Carney is "100% against our energy sector" as well.
