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A Wildrose motion debated Monday at the Alberta legislature calls for the federal government to build more pipelines and “end our dependence on foreign dictator oil.”

The motion, introduced by Wildrose economic development critic Prasad Panda, calls for a renewed push for the Energy East pipeline to take Alberta oil to refineries in Eastern Canada. If built, the pipeline would transport 1.1 million barrels of oil per day.

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“It’s time for Canada to assert itself as the energy superpower it should be and begin the move toward energy independence,” Panda told a news conference at the Alberta legislature Monday.

The Wildrose Party has decried the “hurdles and red tape” that have stalled the hearing process for Energy East and wants to pressure the federal government to speed it up. The National Energy Board recently appointed a new panel after the last one was disbanded. New hearing dates have yet to be chosen.

Alberta Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said “it’s looking good so far” that Energy East will be built and said the province will continue to lobby for it.

McCuaig-Boyd said the best way for the Opposition to lobby for pipelines was to support the government’s climate leadership plan, which the government credits for two recent pipeline approvals, including the Trans Mountain expansion to the West Coast.