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Trudeau to visit Fort McMurray and Vancouver to talk energy and the environment

Last Updated Apr 5, 2018 at 8:16 am MDT

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (not pictured) take part in a joint press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 4, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be facing a balancing act over the next couple of days as he takes the seemingly opposing messages of environmental protection and resource development to Western Canada.

Trudeau will be visiting Fort McMurray and Alberta’s oil sands to tour Suncor’s Fort Hills facility on Friday, April 6.

The uncertainty of his position between environmental groups, who want no more fossil fuel development, and the oil industry, which is a big driver of the Canadian economy, will be highlighted on the trip.

He will start his day by meeting with employees of Suncor’s Fort Hills facility and getting a tour of their operations.

After the tour, he will participate in a roundtable with energy sector leaders and end his day with a meeting with leaders from local First Nations and Metis communities.

Prior to coming to the region, Trudeau will give a a speech to G7 business leaders in Quebec City and then head west where he will go to Victoria to speak to Canadian Coast Guard workers, then to Vancouver for a roundtable discussion on clean technology.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters who oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion plan to give the prime minister a less-than-cordial welcome at a Vancouver hotel where he will host a $1,000-a-plate Liberal fundraiser tonight.

Anger over the approved pipeline has increased in recent weeks, with about 200 people arrested near Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby, B.C. marine terminal in the last month.

Trudeau’s west coast visit will not include a meeting with B.C. Premier John Horgan, whose government opposes the pipeline and has tried to put stumbling blocks in the way of construction.