Harper's Plan to Ship Jobs South Meeting With Opposition

In one of the most lop-sided NAFTA deals, Canada stands to lose thousands of jobs, but there is is a large group protesting his move.

An unlikely coalition of Calgary oil workers, Nebraska farmers, Michigan mothers, Greenpeace shock troops and a powerful U.S. congressman have a chance to achieve what many thought impossible — bring a Canada-U.S. oil pipeline project to a screeching halt.

The pipeline they are trying to stop is a 9,600-kilometre monster designed to ferry black bitumen from the Canadian tar sands due south to planned refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.

... The thousands of kilometres of new pipeline being proposed reveal a radical restructuring of the way oil and gas are being delivered on this continent. For Canadians, the consequences have been crushing.

Rammed through despite serious opposition, the first Keystone, built by TransCanada Corp., cost Canada thousands of jobs. An analysis by the Informetrica think-tank demonstrated that besides exporting 400,000 barrels of heavy crude a day, it also shipped out 18,000 high-paying Canadian jobs. Twice the size of TransCanada’s first Keystone is the new project, Keystone XL. It will shoot out 900,000 barrels of heavy crude in a one-way ride to the U.S. The number of jobs lost is expected to be more than double the 18,000 already gone.

These pipelines are sending our raw, unprocessed bitumen from Canadian tarsands to spanking new oil refineries in the U.S. It is the equivalent of shipping millions of raw logs for others to cut the two-by-fours and create the wood furniture. Like forestry, the best jobs are in processing. We are left with the tarsands’ massive mess. The Americans get the good jobs.

"The Americans get the good jobs." Harper would pee in his pants if he had to do something for Canadians.

We need an election NOW!