Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper postponed an annual winter meeting with President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, a move that comes as relations with the White House are frosty because of the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Globe and Mail said Harper’s government didn’t offer an explanation for postponing the “Three Amigos” meeting, saying only that a final date had never been settled.
But that the move comes a week after Obama threatened to veto congressional legislation authorizing the 1,700-mile oil sands pipeline that Canada has lobbied the White House to approve likely isn’t a coincidence.
“The lack of explanation for the late change led some U.S. and Mexican officials to ascribe it to Canadian concern about the risks of an awkward encounter with two leaders who are at odds with Mr. Harper over Keystone and Canadian visa requirements on Mexicans,” the Globe and Mail reported.
The $8 billion project that would bring Alberta’s oil sands to refineries in the Gulf Coast has been under federal review for more than six years — its builder, TransCanada Corp., needs a cross-border permit to finish the pipeline’s northern leg. The U.S. House passed legislation that would green light its construction last week and the Senate is poised to take up debate on amendments for a similar bill next week.
Harper’s government has leaned on its oil sands, a carbon-dense form of crude, to drive economic growth, much like the U.S. has leaned on its recent domestic shale oil and gas boom for driving the economy.
Relations with the U.S. have reportedly soured over the pipeline, dating back to November 2011 when Obama informed Harper that he would seek another environmental review for the project. At the time, Obama was facing re-election and his environmental base had rallied to oppose Keystone XL in massive demonstrations, putting him in a bind with labor supporters who wanted the pipeline built.
