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Lost in the summer haze is one of the largest nation-building job opportunities seen in a generation. The Energy East pipeline project would have been a massive game changer, not just for the Atlantic provinces, but for the entire country. It would have assured our energy independence and kick-started an increasingly sluggish economy.

Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau killed the project with his dithering and punishing regulatory changes. The ongoing challenges we face over trade, immigration and productivity generally, though, require a new approach. And that includes revisiting the multi-billion dollar TransCanada Energy East project, to bring Alberta’s oil to the Atlantic coast for export.

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Justin Trudeau killed the project with his dithering and punishing regulatory changes

Canadians know our energy industry has always been a key economic driver for prosperity and a huge job producer. For decades many Atlantic Canadians and others have packed up their duffel bags and headed down the road for work “out West.” Sometimes slagged for being welfare bums and abusers of EI and equalization, the industrious and hard-working folks of our region endured hardship and went where they could find a paycheque to feed their families, even when the work was thousands of kilometres away in such places as Fort McMurray and Leduc. Leaving all you know and love out of a sense of obligation and desire to find gainful employment is an admirable demonstration of character and commitment, not dependence or entitlement. Eastern workers also offered the labour to keep the Western energy sector and economy thriving, which benefited the whole nation.