Canada’s energy minister said he can find common ground with President-elect Donald Trump on oil pipelines and energy infrastructure.
“We’re very careful not to judge this administration on anything other than what they do. And what they do will become better known after January 20th,” Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of natural resources, told reporters Wednesday.
His comments suggest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration is taking a “wait and see” approach to the real estate tycoon-turned-president-elect. Carr also floated the possibility the prime minister could find “areas of common cause” with the incoming Trump administration.
Trump’s victory has also bolstered hopes the Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by President Barack Obama last year, might get a new lease on life. Carr said it’s up to the company behind Keystone and the U.S. government to decide whether to proceed.
Trudeau has approved several pipelines, arguing that such projects play a crucial role in reducing Canada’s carbon emission levels.
Carr and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, for instance, approved the-now controversial Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline along with Enbridge’s Line 3.
The $6.8 billion project was not considered controversial when Trudeau gave his seal of approval in early December, because it follows an already existing line, but environmentalists bristled at the prime minister’s reasoning behind the decision.