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“It does not advance the debate when people make exaggerated comments that are not rooted in the facts. And [scientist James Hansen] should know that,” Oliver told reporters in Washington, D.C., CBC reported.

Hansen, who left NASA this month, has long warned the world of the dangers of climate change, explaining in a New York Times op-ed why the development of the oil sands means “game over for the climate.”

Oliver called Hansen’s argument “nonsense.”

Responding to Mulcair in the House of Commons on Thursday, Heritage Minister James Moore said Oliver is in the U.S. to “fight for Canadian jobs and protect our environment.”

“And of course, this is in … stark contrast with the reason why New Democrat Members of Parliament have gone to Washington, D.C. — to fight against Canadians’ interests, to fight against the creation of Canadian jobs and of course to come back here to Ottawa and offer no plan with regard to climate change,” Moore said.

When Mulcair accused the Tories of touting the Keystone XL pipeline as a source of jobs in the U.S., Moore lambasted the NDP for not understanding “comparative or competitive economics.”

“The fact is the Keystone XL project will create jobs on both sides of the border. This project is projected to create over 140,000 jobs in Canada,” Moore said in question period.

“Just because it creates jobs in the United States, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t create jobs in Canada. This is a fallacy leftover of NDP economics when they fought against FTA, when they fought against NAFTA, and they continue it again today.”