Mayor Don Scott and council have sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, warning him that Canada’s energy sector is “being threatened by several factors.”

The main concern of the letter, which is dated Oct. 25, centres around an August decision from the Federal Court of Appeals on the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

Earlier this past summer, the court ruled there had not been an adequate assessment of the potential affects of the project on British Columbia’s waters.

It also ruled there was no adequate consultation between the government’s National Energy Board and Indigenous communities along the Trans Mountain pipeline route.

“There is no place in the country where the $50 differential between Western Canadian Select and West Texas Intermediate crude is more greatly felt than in Wood Buffalo,” Scott writes. “Our bitumen reserves should be creating wealth and great prosperity for Albertans and all Canadians, but this differential is too much.”

The letter asks Trudeau to appeal the decision. It also asks that the federal government continue working with Indigenous communities and address issues the appeals court has identified.

“Our resources need market access to remain competitive and industry needs the reassurance that the regulatory process will be streamlined and respected,” the letter states.

It also asks that the prime minister work with industry and stakeholders in order to help maintain a competitive market, restore investor confidence and provide more access to the market.

“If this market access was provided the Canadian energy industry would re-commit to investment,” the letter reads. “This investment would provide the growth potential to create over a hundred thousand jobs which are desperately needed,”

lbeamish@postmedia.com