Moe pre-approves pipeline permits following Trump’s plea to revive Keystone XL
The Saskatchewan government has pre-approved all pipeline permits across the province’s territory.
Author: Isaac Lamoureux
The Saskatchewan government has pre-approved all pipeline permits across the province’s territory.
Premier Scott Moe announced Wednesday that all pipeline projects—whether heading east, west, or south across the province—are pre-approved going forward.
“We encourage all provinces and the federal government to do the same,” wrote Moe, tagging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Moe’s tagging of Trump was not random, as the president had posted about the Keystone XL Pipeline on Truth Social two days earlier.
“The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built — NOW!” said Trump. “I know they were treated very badly by Sleepy Joe Biden, but the Trump Administration is very different — Easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!”
TC Energy officially abandoned the Keystone XL Pipeline project in June 2021 after then-President Joe Biden denied a key permit on his first day in office.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was the first provincial leader to argue that expanding energy infrastructure was key to countering Trump’s proposed tariffs.
The threat of tariffs has increased support for pipelines across Canada. Even before the tariffs, the support for Energy East grew in every province between 2019 and 2025, except Alberta.
However, the president has recently pushed back the tariff threat by nearly another month.
While Moe tagged Trudeau in his post, the prime minister will be replaced on Mar. 9 by the victor of the Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership election.
As two of Carney’s closest contenders have been disqualified following their surging popularity, he is the most likely victor of the leadership race.
Carney previously faced scrutiny for his conflicting pipeline remarks, depending on whether he was speaking in French or English.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been criticizing Carney’s stance on pipelines since 2021 when the former accused the latter of the hypocrisy of making billions from foreign pipelines while shutting them down in Canada.
Poilievre pledged to repeal Liberal taxes and anti-energy laws like Bill C-69, a.k.a. the “no more pipelines act,” which was ruled largely unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
He said that he would back new LNG plants, pipelines, and mines while green-lighting federal permits and supporting an East-West pipeline.
Good news.