WASHINGTON – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird used a speech to a business audience on Thursday to press for a quick decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Speaking just across the street from the White House, Baird said the Obama administration needs to decide soon.
He elaborated on a message he delivered yesterday on Capitol Hill, that decision times is here.
Baird told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce audience that prime construction weather is approaching and can’t be wasted.
“With the construction season coming up, I don’t want a single worker sitting at home when they could get getting a knock on the door saying ‘you got a great job’,” he said.
He said he’s not telling the U.S. government what to do — only to do things quickly.
“If there’s one message I’m going to be promoting on this trip, it’s this: the time for Keystone is now. I’ll go further — the time for a decision on Keystone is now, even if it’s not the right one.
“We can’t continue in this state of limbo.”
The long-delayed pipeline would move crude from the Alberta oilsands south into the United States.
Environmentalists have questioned the project and President Barack Obama has repeatedly put off a decision on the line.