Federal Resources minister accuses NDP leader of dividing country
OVER RECKLESS STATEMENTS ABOUT ALBERTA'S OILSANDS
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is pitting one part of the country against the other by making reckless statements about Alberta's oil sands, federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Monday during a meeting of federal and provincial energy ministers.
"There are naysayers like Thomas Mulcair's NDP who believe you shouldn't develop our resources to their potential," Oliver told a news conference in Charlottetown.
"Thomas Mulcair says that to help one sector of the economy, you must hurt another sector and kill jobs."
The minister was referring to comments Mulcair made earlier this year which suggested the booming Alberta oil sands have artificially boosted the value of the dollar, hurting the manufacturing sector in Ontario and elsewhere.
"He and the NDP wish to pit one part of the country against another," Oliver said in a statement after day one of a two-day meeting.
"What Thomas Mulcair proposes is reckless and would harm our economy, strand our resources and squander our legacy."
Mulcair has said it would be "senseless" to stop development of the oil sands and he's accused the Conservative government of misrepresenting his views.
Peter Julian, the NDP's natural resources critic, said the Conservative government is resorting to extreme tactics because its members have become alarmed by the party's recent slide in the opinion polls.
"It was a pretty over-the-top statement," said Julian, who was attending the meeting in Charlottetown.
"It reflects a kind of desperate reaction on behalf of the Harper government."
Julian said the polls suggest Canadians are losing confidence in Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
However, he said the Tories are responding by ramping up the rhetoric rather than taking a more reasonable approach to politics. "Those kind of extreme statements don't help bolster the credibility of the Harper government," he said.
NDP Critic for Canadian Heritage Peter Julian issued the following statement:
"It has come to our attention that a consultant for a federally funded anti-racism project has a disturbing track record of spewing hate speech online against Jewish and francophone communities. This is completely unacceptable. We call on the Minister of Heritage to take drastic action and terminate his contract.
NDP Heritage Critic Peter Julian issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement by Hockey Canada is another attempt to delay the important and urgent work to deal with the toxic culture in this organization. While a former Supreme Court Justice is a credible appointment to conduct the review into Hockey Canada, this won’t be the first time the organization undergoes this process.
NDP critic for Canadian Heritage, Peter Julian, made the following statement:
“Canadians are horrified by the incidents of sexual assault and by what they’re hearing from Hockey Canada. They are left with many questions about how this toxic culture is allowed to persist in our sports organizations and what the government is actually doing to ensure this doesn’t happen again.