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We will turn off the taps: Kenney

UCP Leader Jason Kenney was in Sylvan Lake Monday, said if elected he will turn off the taps to B.C.
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UCP Leader Jason Kenney held a rally on a ranch just outside Sylvan Lake on April 8 where he said he plans to “turn off the taps” to B.C. if elected. His promises to the large crowd of supporters included revoking the carbon tax and getting more than one pipeline built to get Albertans back to work. Photo by Megan Roth/Sylvan Lake News

“Build that pipeline,” the large crowd cheered as UCP Leader Jason Kenney spoke during a rally in Sylvan Lake late Monday afternoon.

The crowd was loud and responsive, chanting and cheering the party leader’s name when he announced his plan to “turn off the taps” if elected.

He told the crowd of a couple hundred that the piece of legislation introduced by Premier Rachel Notley had not been turned into a law because she had “no intention of using it.”

“The very first measure taken by a United Conservative cabinet, on day one that we are sworn in, in the first hour after being sworn in, we will proclaim into full force and effect the turn off the taps legislation,” Kenney said to the loud cheers of his supporters.

Kenney said he has heard many British Columbia residents complain of the high gas prices. In Vancouver prices at the pumps are as high as $1.67 a litre. He believes the prices will continue to remain high if Alberta were to “turn off the taps” should the province continue to object to the Trans Mountain pipeline.

A main point of contention for Albertans is the lack of pipelines built to export one of the province’s major commodities. This has become a back and forth battle between Alberta and British Columbia with each province boycotting or banning products from their borders.

Kenney says he will take on any company or government that denies Alberta a way to export its resources.

“The NDP mayor of Vancouver says he wants a carbon-free Vancouver by 2040 well if they continue to block our oil I we will give them a carbon-free Vancouver by 2020.”

According to Kenney, the UCP plan is to ensure other provinces and countries know the Province of Alberta means business.

This includes, according to Kenney, standing up to Ottawa when it comes to equalization payments.

“I will also say to Justin Trudeau, ‘Prime Minister, no pipelines then no equalization.’”

Kenney said he will openly oppose Bill C-69 which will effectively phase out and stop oil and gas production in the country, forcing the country to “rely of dictator oil.”

“We need to get our major export to market… and stop relying on dictator oil from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait… We need to get not just the one pipeline built but all the pipelines that have been shut down in the past four years,” he said.

The UCP plan also includes getting rid of the carbon tax, which Kenney calls a devastating deception by the Notley government.

Kenney says the first bill a UCP government will introduce into legislature will be one to abolish the carbon tax.

He said there is also plans to take the David Suzuki Foundation to court to challenge their charitable status.

Alberta heads to the polls on April 16 to decide who will be the next leader of the province.