* Mulcair calls for more refining rather than pipelines
* Says Harper government not enforcing legislation
* Alberta premier snubs NDP leader
CALGARY, Alberta, May 31 (Reuters) – Canada should refine
more crude from its vast oil sands to create jobs and boost
economic benefits rather than build pipelines to ship the raw
material overseas, the leader of federal opposition party said
after his first visit to the massive Alberta production
facilities on Th urs day.
New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair, who toured
Suncor Energy Inc’s sprawling oil sands operation, also
said he did not advocate imposing new environmental legislation
on the energy sector, only demanding the federal government
enforce laws that are already on the books.
Mulcair, who hails from Quebec, has come under fire in
Alberta for saying the booming oil sands industry is partly
responsible for driving up Canadian dollar’s value, which in
turn has led to a struggling manufacturing sector as goods for
exports became too expensive.
Following his high-profile trip to the oil sands hub of Fort
McMurray, Alberta, he insisted his left-wing NDP supports
measured, long-term economic growth and was not anti-tar sands.
“That means building a diversified economy that includes
value-added jobs and a thriving export industry. It means
upgrading and refining our own natural resources right there in
Canada and particularly in Alberta, instead of building
pipelines to ship raw bitumen, for example, overseas,” Mulcair
said in Edmonton.
“It means making polluters pay for the pollution they create
rather than leaving that cleanup to future generations.
Governments have an obligation of result.”
Following a surprise second-place showing in last year’s
federal election, Mulcair and his party have made big strides in
opinion polls
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