Houston says Bloc should reconsider opposition to Energy East

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Nova Scotia’s premier says the Bloc Quebecois’ opposition to moving energy from Western Canada to the Atlantic provinces is “completely unacceptable.”

Tim Houston has in recent weeks brought up the idea of resurrecting the Energy East pipeline, an idea Bloc Quebecois leader Yves Francois Blanchet has said his party is “fiercely opposed to.”

“As you are aware, we are in a unique time where national unity and national self-reliance is more important than ever,” Houston wrote in a letter to Blanchet dated Friday.

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Houston’s letter was in response to Blanchet’s comments regarding Energy East, in which Blanchet said moving Western Canadian hydrocarbons across Quebec territory does not serve Quebec.

“I couldn’t let this slide without addressing it,” Houston wrote. “Your eagerness to disparage opportunities for ALL Canadians for energy security and intentionally alienate Atlantic Canada is appalling.”

Houston says the Bloc Quebecois should reconsider its position.

The Nova Scotia premier raised the prospect of reviving Energy East in early February, following national meetings on responding to threatened U.S. tariffs.