Above: Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford discusses his strategy ahead of his trilateral meeting in Washington with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts.
OTTAWA — It’s a hard sell, but the Conservative government is not backing down on the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Natural Resources Minster Greg Rickford on Monday is heading to Washington — his third official visit to the U.S. capital while heading the resources portfolio — for a trilateral meeting with his American and Mexican counterparts.
This will mark Rickford’s fourth face-to-face meeting with U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and his first with Mexican Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquin Coldwell.
READ MORE: Obama appears to take swipe at Keystone XL and Canada on ‘Colbert’ show
While the agenda will cover energy data and Mexico’s regulatory reforms for its oil and energy sector, the three will surely discuss energy infrastructure as it pertains to the long-delayed Keystone project, Rickford said.
In an interview on The West Block with Tom Clark, the minister said he will certainly “again advance our ongoing frustration and disappointment” with the U.S. handling of the Keystone project.
READ MORE: 2015 was the ‘year of the (continued) pipeline debate’
While the administration continues to grapple with questions regarding the Alberta-to-Texas project’s potential environment impacts, Canada has maintained the proposal is viable – both on economic and environmental terms.
“The United States contributes more than 15 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions per year for the globe,” Rickford said.
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