EDMONTON – NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says it is dangerous to caricature the so-called Leap Manifesto as being about shutting down the oilsands.
Mulcair is telling The Canadian Press he doesn’t see the policy blueprint that way.
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He also says he would never suggest oil should stay in the ground and says that’s not an expression used in the manifesto itself.
Nearly two dozen NDP riding associations are pushing for the party to embrace and debate the document, which, among other things, calls for the country to wean itself off fossil fuels.
Mulcair also says the country’s natural resources are a blessing that need to be developed responsibility.
READ MORE: Push for NDP to embrace Leap Manifesto intensifies ahead of convention
He points to the path put forward by Alberta’s NDP government and Premier Rachel Notley.
On the eve of the federal NDP convention in Edmonton, Notley used a TV address to say every Canadian benefits from a strong energy sector and that means one thing – building a modern and carefully regulated pipeline to tidewater.