Article content

Alberta’s United Conservative government has confirmed it will move ahead to scrap billions in oil-by-rail contracts signed by its NDP predecessors.

The province is now working with Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to get out of the NDP commitment and will consider a variety of options, but would also be willing to use legislation to break the contracts as a last resort, a government spokeswoman said.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or UCP government says it will make good on promise to end NDP oil-by-rail deal Back to video

“We have been clear from the beginning: these contracts, which were rushed into by a desperate government on the eve of an election, should never have been signed — by the government or by the railways,” Christine Myatt, Premier Jason Kenney’s deputy director of communications, said in a written statement Saturday.

“There was no reason why private companies couldn’t have stepped up to carry more oil by rail. That is still our position,” the statement added. “If these contracts cannot be transferred to the private sector on acceptable terms, our government will do what is necessary to protect Alberta taxpayers.”