Trudeau talks energy at Calgary Petroleum Club
Communication and co-operation are key to securing the country's energy and environmental policy, Canada's Liberal leader said Friday.
Speaking at the Calgary's Petroleum Club, Grit boss Justin Trudeau said a lack of public trust and credibility were to blame for Canada's energy woes.
"You don't have to be Prime Minister for nine years to know that such uncertainty calls for greater diplomacy, not less," he told the crowd.
Taking the tone of a candidate out on the hustings, Trudeau told the crowd a Liberal government would have a greater focus on addressing climate change.
"If we want to get our resources moving, the federal government must also act to regain the public trust here at home — and that starts with a mature and honest conversation about carbon pricing," he said.
Putting a national carbon cap-and-trade system in place would be a priority if allowed to form the next government, he said.
Within 90 days of returning from this November's UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, Trudeau promised to meet with provincial and territorial leaders to hash out a plan on carbon pricing — one that meets regional needs while satisfying a national need to take climate change seriously.
He said the best plan is one that benefits the country as a whole.
"For those of you who think the National Energy Program was before my time, trust me I get reminded of it every time I'm in Alberta," he said.
His father Pierre Trudeau's answer to 1970s oil crisis, the NEP rankled many in Alberta who saw it benefitting the country at the expense of the province's economy.
"We will set a national standard in partnership with provinces and territories, one that gives them the flexibility to design their own policies to achieve those targets," he said.
Equating social licence for projects like Keystone XL to issues of public trust, Trudeau promised to rebuild what he referred to as a lack of credibility in the PMO.
"Getting resources to market today means doing it in a safe and responsible way," he said. "Pipelines are definitely part of that solution."
