Southwestern Manitoba is home to a lot of oil production, and if the newest representative of Brandon-Souris has his way, the province will have an easier time getting that oil to market.
Grant Jackson, newly elected MP for Brandon-Souris, said in his post-campaign media address he had a keen interest in getting pipelines built and called it one of his two biggest priorities upon his arrival in Ottawa. His biggest perceived opposition to that, however, is now running the country.
“We understand that Mark Carney and his government don’t like pipelines but the key to prosperity in this country is our natural resource sector,” Jackson said. “We need to get the oil and gas sector running at full steam again in Western Manitoba. I believe we can do that.”
According to the provincial government’s website, there are over 5000 active wells in Manitoba as of 2021 and two years earlier the province had sold about $1.1 billion worth of oil. So getting those resources out of the ground was of special importance to Jackson.
“Mark Carney has said he doesn’t like pipelines but he wants to get natural resource projects done,” said Jackson. “I don’t know how he’s going to square that circle but I’m going to go to Ottawa and be advocating on behalf of our natural resources sector here in Western Manitoba and for the entire province of Manitoba to make sure we’re getting those minerals out of the ground and into the market.”
Carney had said on the campaign trail that he intends to turn Canada into “a world energy superpower” during a stop in Calgary.
Looming over any resource talks is the threat of tariffs from south of the border. It’s a concern not only for the oil and gas industry but for any group that does business with Canada’s biggest trading partner.
“We need to take these things seriously, and Mr. Carney made a lot of commitments in this election about how he felt he’s the best person to deal with Donald Trump and his administration,” Jackson said. “We’ll see. The rubber is going to hit the road (Tuesday) when Mr. Carney returns to the Prime Minister’s obvious.”
