[LINK] "Mulcair's Washington trip a 'betrayal of Canada,' Redford says"

[rfmcdonald]

This CBC article helps underline the unlikelihood of the NDP, for all of its successes elsewhere in the country, breaking into an Alberta where the party's caution about developing the oil sands for export to the United States runs against the political zeitgeist.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was "irresponsible" and acted in a way that was a "fundamental betrayal" of Canada's economic interests by undercutting efforts to win U.S. approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, says Alberta Premier Alison Redford.

In an interview Monday on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Redford accused Mulcair of spreading misinformation when he criticized Canada’s environmental record and warned of massive job losses that could result from the contentious pipeline project.

[. . .]

"I think if you’re a national leader that’s talking about Canada’s economic future, it’s important to understand that an important part of our future is an energy economy," Redford told guest host Terry Milewski.

[. . .]

"For Mr. Mulcair to travel to Washington and undermine the months of good work by premiers of every persuasion, along with the federal government, is not only wholly irresponsible, but a fundamental betrayal of Canada's long-term economic interests," she told the business and political audience.

On Power & Politics, Redford defended taking out a $30,000 advertisement in the weekend New York Times to promote the Keystone XL pipeline. The half-page ad says that while the U.S. State Department concluded the project would not have a significant impact on the environment, some believe its fate should be decided "on emotion rather than science and fact."

Insisting that opponents are spreading "misinformation" about the science and playing on emotions, Redford said the objective of the ad is to set the record straight on Canada’s environmental targets, investments in clean technology and performance in reducing emissions.

[. . .]

Asked if Alberta would consider upping the current $15-a-tonne carbon tax on large emitters to show a commitment to tackling climate change, Redford said the current plan is to prove the province is a leader in setting and achieving targets by investment in clean technologies.

"We’re not in a position where we're going to go in and try and negotiate with respect to these issues from the perspective of a particular project," she said. "We want to go in and talk about what our record has been, demonstrate the fact that we've been leaders, show what we’ve been doing — not only with having a price on carbon, but what we’re doing with that money."

[. . .]

Redford added that Canada and the U.S. have built a joint energy economy and said it would be "unfortunate" if that did not continue.