With First Nations and other communities along the route of the proposed Energy East pipeline expressing deep concerns about the project, TransCanada Corp. can still look to federal Opposition leader Thomas Mulcair for conditional support.

Mulcair believes a west-east pipeline “makes the most sense of any proposal for pumping Alberta’s oilsands crude to tidewater,” Bryden reports, despite growing opposition in his home province of Quebec. “But it has to be done right, Mulcair warns—with a rigorous, transparent environmental review process and legislation to force oil companies to pay for the pollution they create, including any increase in greenhouse gas emissions.”

As a former provincial environment minister, Mulcair touts his “proud track record of being a very rigorous enforcer of environmental legislation,” stressing that no pipeline will be built without “social licence” from First Nations and other Canadians. No word on how charging fossil fuel companies for higher emissions will help Canada meet an emissions target of 100 megatonnes (Mt) by 2050, from a projected 734 Mt in 2020.