Trudeau avoids questions on Alberta oil sands mine being possibly killed

When a reporter asked the prime minister if he knew how devastating the cancelation of this project would be to Alberta’s economy, Trudeau responded, “I understand that it is a project that has a lot of people reflecting on the choice that we’re about to make.”

“We are taking this responsibility seriously,” Trudeau added, “to make a decision that is in the national interest.”

The Teck Frontier Mine is a multi-billion dollar project, located in Alberta’s oilsands, that could employ some 7,000 workers during constuction and 2,500 workers once the project is completed—giving some much needed relief to Alberta’s starved economy.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is considering an “aid package” to Alberta if the Federal Government decides not to follow through with the Teck Frontier Mine.

“I would never think to characterize this as anything other then creating opportunities,” said Morneau. “Alberta is a province where we have great entrepreneurs who have built a strong economy and I think what we need to do is address the economy as challenged right now and create a path forward that will have hope for this generation and the next generation. I look at it very differently.”

The Teck Frontier Mine has created a great deal of contention from within the Liberal caucus, with some Liberal MPs calling for Trudeau to block the project. It has also sparked protests across the country. In Belleville, for example, First Nation protesters blocked train tracks for four straight days, stopping all trains between Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal.

As well as this, a dozen protesters blocked access to Vancouver’s Delta Port and would not leave until the RCMP left the Wet’suwet’en territory. Hundreds of dock workers could not be paid until the First Nation protesters left.