Alberta Premier Kenney Bemoans 'Legal Harassment' From US-Funded Special Interests Groups

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney lamented the "legal harassment" that the Canadian oil industry had endured at the hands of US-funded special interest groups and added that Canada extracted these resources in accordance with higher environmental, human rights and labor standards

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2019) Alberta Premier Jason Kenney lamented the "legal harassment" that the Canadian oil industry had endured at the hands of US-funded special interest groups and added that Canada extracted these resources in accordance with higher environmental, human rights and labor standards.

"[The approval process] has obviously been subject to a lot of legal harassment by largely US-funded special interests, and they have lost at every step of the way," Kenney said at a meeting of the Council of the Federation in Toronto on Monday, presumably referring to the numerous protests against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project that are believed to be US-funded.

A number of environmental groups have been long voicing their disapproval with the project. However, there have been major speculations in the Canadian media that the anti-pipeline funds flow from unexpected sources, mainly the United States.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan, who also joined the meeting, humorously questioned Kenney's choice of words, preferring "intervention" to "harassment".

Meanwhile, Kenney touted the moral argument for Canadian oil exports.

"Either we get those resources to market or we abandon global energy markets to the Saudis, and the OPEC dictatorships and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's Russia, with lower environmental standards and no human rights or labor standards," Kenney said during the press conference, later reiterating this position when discussing Canadian natural gas exports.

While differences remain between some premiers on pipelines, including British Columbia's legal challenge against the Trans Mountain pipeline and Quebec Premier Francois Legault's objection to the Energy East pipeline � which would have transported Alberta crude oil across the country terminating in Quebec or New Brunswick � the premiers agreed that the approval process for major infrastructure projects needed to be reformed. The premiers stated in the communique that they intended to work with the Federal government "to pursue improvements to the federal environmental assessment regime."

The premiers were also unanimous in their agreement that Canada had to do more to bring Canadian energy products to the market.

"The opportunity that we have is to once again regain our world dominance in energy supply, being a world-influencer," Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick, said during the press conference.

The Council of the Federation was established in 2003 as a platform for all Canadian provinces and territories to promote cooperation among each other and vis-a-vis the federal government.