Ontario construction workers disappointed and upset by Energy East pipeline cancellation: Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 5, 2017) - "This is a lost opportunity for nation-building and for the environment, and construction workers are deeply upset," said Patrick Dillon, Business Manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, in response to the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline. "We have worked with TransCanada laying the groundwork to provide enough trained and qualified workers to ensure that there would be no delays due to staffing. With this abandonment of the project, a rare opportunity to engage in nation-building has been lost." 

The cancellation of this project will result in the loss of thousands of high quality, high paying construction and maintenance jobs in many communities across the province, especially throughout Northern Ontario. The pipeline offered an east-west energy corridor that would diminish reliance on foreign oil, open new markets, and reduce the environmental risks associated with the transportation of hydrocarbons.

"Energy East represented a lost opportunity to strengthen the country much as the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway did nearly 150 years ago," said Dillon. "It is a shame that a cumbersome regulatory environment has caused a $15 billion investment to go south. We support stringent regulations that are balanced and fair that protects workers, communities and investors. However, the Energy East process tipped the scales too far in the wrong direction, to the detriment of construction workers and Ontario's economy."

The Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario represents 150,000 trades workers throughout the province.