"It was essential to show the world that our country can get major infrastructure projects approved," said CEO Tim McMillan of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers at an afternoon news conference.The approval of a project that will add about 600,000 barrels per day of potential oil export capacity is a rare bit of good news for the sector, said Jack Mintz, tax policy and economics expert at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, in an interview.
In his announcement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said work on the project that was interrupted last summer by a federal court ruling is expected to be restarted during the current construction season. Mark Little, CEO of Suncor Energy Inc, and Tim McKay, president of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada's two biggest oil producers, both called on the government to make sure construction starts as soon as possible.
"Right now, we're excited. We're happy with the response," said Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation near Edmonton, a leader of the Iron Coalition hoping to organize a coalition of Alberta Metis and First Nations to bid for an equity stake in the pipeline.