Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says his government is encouraged after the Keystone XL pipeline was mentioned during a recent meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump. The two leaders met in Washington on Tuesday to discuss trade relations and marked Carney’s second trip to the White House since May. Despite being categorized as “successful” and “positive” by Canada’s U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LaBlanc — the Canadian contingent did not leave the U.S. capital with a deal that would see tariffs lifted. “It seemed to be positive. I mean, you’re always thankful when the president is in a good mood,” Moe told reporters in Moose Jaw on Wednesday. The two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Trump did include a mention of reviving the Keystone XL pipeline expansion. A government source told The Canadian Press that the project was raised in the context of the U.S. providing relief to Canada from steel and aluminum tariffs. The expansion, which was axed twice by the Obama and Biden administrations, has been touted in the past by Trump. In February, the current president posted on social media that he wanted to revive the project. The pipeline would carry Canadian crude oil from Alberta down to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast — passing through southwestern Saskatchewan and into Montana. Moe noted that expectations for the meeting were not high. However, hearing that Keystone XL was raised as a possible project between the two countries was encouraging news. “There is a relationship that needs to advance, and I think it most certainly did yesterday,” the premier added. “… The conversation around Keystone XL was raised, [it’s a] positive project for Western Canada and really could go in tandem with opening up the opportunities that we have with expanding our access to Asian markets with a pipeline to the northwest coast as well as one to the U.S., that would really provide us with some tremendous opportunities to expand a number of industries.” The existing Keystone pipeline already runs through the province before turning south from Manitoba into the midwestern states. Moe ended off his comments by saying he’s feeling optimistic about the nation’s economic future. “This is an exciting time, and I would say, I have never been more bullish on the future of not just our province of Saskatchewan, but Canada — if we get the next 10 decisions right, and many of those are in the federal realm,” he said. “We’ll be trying our level best to advocate and advise the prime minister on what those decisions would be.” RELATED STORIES:
