Federal Treasury Board President Tony Clement blasted NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and defended the oil sands in Calgary this morning.
The Ontario MP says the oil sands are benefiting all regions of the country, and Mulcair is wrong to suggest otherwise.
“We see the integration of our economy and the growth in the natural resource sector in Western Canada as a plus for Ontario, not a minus,” he said. “This may be a debate that goes on for three and a half years until the next election, but it’s important that we engage in it and not just automatically say ‘well, that’s so patently ridiculous, we don’t need to respond.”
“I think we do need to respond.”
He says Mulcair’s attacks are short-sighted.
“The idea that the way to get ahead in politics is to pit region against region or class against class or economic sector against economic sector, we don’t think that that’s helpful to build our economy and our country,” he said.
Clement says he hopes Mulcair will visit the oil sands on his Alberta tour next week.
Published May 23, 2012
