Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci. Image: Government of Alberta OTTAWA — Quebec’s resistance to a pipeline carrying western Canadian oil across its territory shows the provincial premier’s lack of understanding about the energy industry, the Albertan finance minister says. Speaking ahead of a federal-provincial finance ministers’ meeting Monday in Ottawa, Joe Ceci argued Alberta has been reducing the amount of carbon in the oil it produces. The entire national economy will benefit if Alberta can transport its oil to international markets beyond the United States, he said, insisting pipelines are the safest way to get crude to coastal ports. Ceci’s remarks came a few days after Quebec Premier Francois Legault said there’s no “social acceptability” for a pipeline that would carry what he called “dirty energy” through his province. “He clearly doesn’t understand what is happening in the energy sector in Alberta at this point in time,” Ceci said when asked by reporter Monday about Legault’s comment. “We have been innovators in removing carbon from the barrel — we are going to continue to be innovators…So I don’t think the premier of Quebec understands at this point that Alberta’s energy sector is leading in terms of the enhancements of […]
