Do Americans really want Canada, our biggest trading partner, to be one big park? Here is an interview by Peter Mansberg of PM Harper: “It’s one thing in terms of whether Canadians, you know, want jobs, to what degree Canadians want environmental protection. These are all valid questions,” Harper said in an exclusive interview Monday with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge. MAPCanada’s crude oil pipelines “But just because certain people in the United States would like to see Canada be one giant national park for the northern half of North America, I don’t think that’s part of what our review process is all about.” The $5.5-billion Northern Gateway project is a proposal by Canadian oil and gas company Enbridge to build two pipelines stretching 1,177 kilometres between the Alberta oilsands and the West Coast. The Northern Gateway would have the capacity to transport 525,000 barrels of oil per day. Community Reaction The CBC community reacts to Mansbridge’s conversation with Stephen Harper. What’s your take? Just before hearings on the project began, Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver raised the issue of foreign money going to environmental groups earlier this month. The groups say they get a small amount of funding from outside of Canada and that the government is trying to refocus the debate when much of the investment in the oilsands comes from outside of Canada. “I don’t object to foreigners expressing their opinion,” Harper told CBC News. “But I don’t want them to be able to hijack the process so that we don’t make a decision that’s timely or in the interests of Canadians.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/01/16/pol-harper-mansbridge-interview.html