My understanding of the situation with the oil sands is, they are determined to develop that resource with or without new pipelines. It's naive to think that shutting down Keystone XL will stop oil sands development. We are not Canada's only customer. They will just have to find alternative delivery methods, which are less efficient, and different markets, most likely across the Pacific. They don't have the capacity to refine in northern Alberta, and they would have to import more labor. The thought of Fort MacMurray growing any larger in order to build and staff new refineries is horrifying to me, but they are willing to consider that.

For my part I feel that we are being forced to choose between an array of evils ... I would rather see jobs go to communities where refining capacity already exists, rather than see those communities have to suffer economically and see those jobs go up north.

In the US we have gotten minimal coverage of another pipeline proposal known as Northern Gateway. This would enable them to ship bitumen to China. The proposed route is also going through some sensitive areas in B.C. They have had to extend the public comment period because of tons of environmental concern, but the pipe company is beginning to get buy-in from First Nations.

We need to remember that this is a global issue.