Canada gives priority to approval process for Arctic gas

Responding to critics, Foreign Affairs minister says exports have mutual benefits for both countries; argues Canada can’t “sit in splendid isolation”

By Gary Park

PNA Canadian Correspondent

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley said his government will do everything possible to facilitate the delivery of North Slope gas through Canada to the Lower 48 and ensure that the United States has ready access to Canada’s energy supplies.

He said Canada is prepared to smooth the way for delivery of U.S. or Canadian Arctic gas to market by streamlining and clarifying the regulatory and approval process for construction of new pipelines.

But Manley reiterated that the government will not specify a preferred pipeline route, leaving that decision to potential investors who are in a better position to assess the economic risks and advantages of the various options.

Answering environmental and political critics who said Canada’s open-market energy policy will only promote American consumption and waste, Manley argued Canadian gas can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing coal.

He said “energy does drive” the domestic economy and it is thus in Canada’s best interests to have its largest economic partner well supplied.

Manley, who chairs a powerful cabinet committee assigned to oversee Canada’s position on continental energy trade, has made improved relations with the new U.S. administration his priority since he was appointed late last year.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien has also been pushing the idea of Canadian sources as new supply for the United States hoping to attract U.S. investment for development of Alberta’s oil sands, the Arctic and East Coast offshore.

Manley said the Canadian economy is so inextricably tied to the United States, with two-way trade averaging more than C$1 billion a day, that “there is no way we can sit in splendid isolation.”

But he did express hope that the United States would be willing to participate in exploring opportunities to develop energy-saving technologies.