Federal Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says she thinks the Energy East pipeline is dead in the water—and Montreal, and its mayor, are to blame.
"I've got to be totally honest with you. I just don't see how it's going to happen. I don't see Energy East getting through Montreal," Ambrose said while taking questions during an appearance with the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
Ambrose says the pipeline's future looks grim, because it is being used as a political tool.
"[The Liberals have] said it has to have social license [to approve a pipeline] and we still don't know exactly what that means. But if you think that [Mayor] Denis Coderre in Montreal and the groups that have gotten organized against Energy East are going to give the government social license to go through Montreal, I don't believe it."
TransCanada's proposal for Energy East is to convert an existing pipeline to carry 1.1 million barrels per day of Alberta oil sands crude to be refined in New Brunswick.
A Coderre spokesman maintains the mayor remains opposed to the pipeline.
"The mayor deplores the project's lack of relevance, both at the economic and environmental level," said Marc-André Gosselin.