Local MPP and provincial Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is keeping up the heat on Ottawa to fight the closure of Line 5.
Michigan’s Governor is pushing to shut down the 65-year-old Enbridge pipeline, despite the huge impact it will have on workers.
540,000 barrels of light crude oil travel through the pipeline each day through Michigan to Sarnia, under the Straits of Mackinac.
McNaughton recently penned a letter to federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan pointing out the losses. The estimate is 5,000 jobs locally and 23,000 jobs overall associated with the pipeline.
McNaughton says these are good high paying union jobs with pensions and benefits.
There is also the issue of a shortage of 14 million gallons of fuel.
He pointed to a 1977 treaty between Canada and the U. S. that is supposed to protect cross border pipelines from regional, state, or local authorities from interfering.
McNaughton is urging O’Regan to use everything at his disposal to make sure line 5 is operational.
