Sopuck demands Liberals stand up for Canadian jobs by supporting the Energy East pipeline
February 23, 2022
Ottawa, ON – Today Robert Sopuck, Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa, is demanding that the Liberals stand up for Canadian jobs by supporting the Energy East pipeline.
“The Liberals have continually demonstrated that they are unwilling to support Canadian jobs by supporting the Energy East Pipeline,” Sopuck said. “Conservatives have consistently stood with Canada’s energy sector, but unfortunately the Liberals have made it clear that they do not.”
The House of Commons, led by the Conservative Official Opposition, voted on whether Members of Parliament would support Canada’s energy sector and the Energy East pipeline. The Liberals voted against it.
“There are significant benefits to building pipelines,” Sopuck continued. “Building pipelines creates good-paying, stable, Canadian jobs such as engineers, wildlife biologists, ecologists, and land use specialists. Just the Energy East pipeline is estimated to create 14,000 jobs during the nine-year construction phase. Canada desperately needs these jobs right now.”
Pipelines also contribute more than $25 million annually to community investments, and pipeline companies paid $1.1 billion in property and corporate taxes in 2014. This money directly benefits Canadians by allowing the government to spend on priorities such as health care, national defence, and better community infrastructure.
“Municipalities receive over $600 million in property taxes from pipelines, they create thousands of long-term, good-paying jobs, and they reduce Canada’s dependence on foreign oil,” Sopuck said. “I am very disappointed that the Liberals have voted against Canada’s energy sector.”
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