Moosomin 鈥� Usually when premiers make official visits of other provinces, there鈥檚 some sort of conference involved. It鈥檚 not often that a premier from Atlantic Canada would come to small town Saskatchewan to address a pro-pipeline rally. It sure hasn鈥檛 happened in the last 10 years, at least until mid-February.
Because that鈥檚 exactly what did occur on Feb. 16, when recently elected New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs came to a rally for resources in Moosomin.
The choice of Moosomin was no accident. It was to be the Saskatchewan on-ramp for oil from southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba onto the now-defunct Energy East Pipeline. While Moosomin was the on-ramp, the Irving Oil Refinery and Canaport at St. John, New Brunswick was its terminus. And Higgs, before his political career, used to be an executive with Irving, where his responsibilities included refining and transportation.
With that said, here鈥檚 Higg鈥檚 speech, verbatim, picking up after his introduction:
Listening to your premier, here, I realized I have a new best friend. We have a daughter that recently moved to Moose Jaw. She married a local Saskatchewan resident, and I鈥檓 going to see them tonight. And at the time, I said, 鈥榃ho do I know in Moose Jaw? Who do I know in Saskatchewan? Well I know a lot of people, and I know a lot of people and I know a lot of people who think like I do, so it鈥檚 good to be here today.
This shouldn鈥檛 be necessary. But it is. It is, and we鈥檝e been working on it.
I鈥檝e had people say, 鈥淗ow can we make change?鈥�
They have to take time out from their everyday job to make a difference, to make it happen. And that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e doing here, and that鈥檚 why I flew halfway across the country, to be part of it.
It鈥檚 fun to be here with so many colleagues, federally, provincially, locally, and it鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to change the game.
You know, you say, why did I come all the way from New Brunswick? I did spend a little time in the oil and gas industry. Thirty-three years, to be exact.
I know how it works, and I know what it takes to be successful, and I know how hard people work in the industry. So when I see our resources not 小蓝视频 utilized, and I see an 80 per cent reduction in the commodity pricing for oil resource that we have, right here in Canada, it鈥檚 a national issue.
When I went to Montreal a few months ago, with my colleagues, I found it wasn鈥檛 even on the radar for a national discussion. And here we have an issue that affects our transfer payments all over the country.
Now, Saskatchewan is a net contributor. And I鈥檓 hoping to be in that set, at some point. And I鈥檓 humbled by the generosity that I鈥檝e seen throughout Canada, and the generosity I see in the western provinces. But I鈥檓 not taking it for granted! And that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here to fight with you, to make a difference.
One day, I want to New Brunswick to be a net contributor for provinces that need our help. Now what do we have in New Brunswick? Some of you come from there, because we had a potash mine 鈥� and I met some fellas here today that are from the Sussex region, because their mine isn鈥檛 running at this point. I鈥檓 hopeful, one day, that it will open up.
But the idea that we have the largest refinery, in Canada, in Saint John, New Brunswick 鈥� 350,000 barrel a day refinery, and guess what it refines? Foreign crude oil! At least 70, 80 per cent of it is foreign crude oil. And what does it does for us here? It displaces 150,000 barrels a day of foreign oil.
Now what is wrong with that picture? There鈥檚 a problem, if we can鈥檛 make that happen and connect those dots.
So when I read the tee-shirts, about the world needs more Canadian oil, New Brunswick needs more Canadian oil!
And what do we have there, along with these ships coming and going? The largest tankers in the world have been calling in the deepest deep water port in the country, in Saint John, New Brunswick, for over 40 years.
It鈥檚 a way of life for us. Brining oil into Saint John, into New Brunswick, is not a new thing. It鈥檚 been going on for years. I spent a career in both the refining and transportation business. And I can talk at great length about what it takes at running those operations, as many of you can talk about the experiences you have.
That鈥檚 what it takes to make it happen. And that鈥檚 exciting. And the only people that don鈥檛 seem to get it right now is that we can鈥檛 seem to get it across to the federal government. But we have a future prime minister, here, that鈥檚 going to get it across.
I am convinced that across this province, that as we unite, across this country, one province at a time, people are going to get onboard. So we see it growing. We see it growing from New Brunswick, we see it growing in Ontario. We see it growing in Saskatchewan and in Manitoba, and we see it growing in Alberta. So we have one little place that we need to grow. But we鈥檙e saying, Quebec, we need your help. We need you to help us to make our country strong. We need you to be part of the solution. That鈥檚 our goal.
So it鈥檚 not about finding our differences and spending our time focusing on that. It鈥檚 about finding the issue that defines us and creates our province and moves forward. And when we talk about an energy corridor, like the railroad many years ago, it鈥檚 that infrastructure that we support one another on. It鈥檚 the infrastructure that makes us stronger than any other nation. It鈥檚 upholding the values that we cherish.
Hard work gets results. Using what you have to make you prosper gets results. So it鈥檚 not about more talk. It鈥檚 not about more focus. It鈥檚 not about more committees, more legislation. It鈥檚 about more doing! Get the job done! Let鈥檚 get 鈥榚r done!
So I鈥檓 going to continue to be an advocate across the country, from poor, little 鈥榦le New Brunswick. Because we鈥檙e done 小蓝视频 little 鈥榦le New Brunswick. We鈥檙e done 小蓝视频 the stranded asset on the east coast. We have a lot to be proud of in our province, and I ran on 鈥楩ight for our province.鈥�
After a 33-year career in the private sector, people say, 鈥淲hy are you doing this now?鈥�
Well, sometimes, I question that, too. But when I come to rallies like this, and I see real people, fighting for a real country, fighting for a real economy, wanting to make a difference for the next generation, it excites me. It makes it say we can go harder. We can be stronger, and we can get results.
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Moosomin Rally Stories
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