News Release Archive
PREMIER--NOVA SCOTIA INTERESTS PROTECTED ----------------------------------------------------------------- Premier John Savage said today he agrees with a top Canadian energy analyst who has suggested that decisions regarding gas and oil should be done on the basis of good business. Winfried Fruehauf, of the investment firm Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion, said this week that if the Nova Scotia Sable offshore project is determined by business factors, then it will go ahead. "I agree with Mr. Fruehauf that we have to start doing things on a business basis, not for political expediency," the premier said. Premier Savage said that was the argument he made last week at the premiers' conference in Jasper, when presenting the Nova Scotia case for maximum royalties and jobs from the Sable offshore gas project. "Following last week's success at the premiers' conference, I feel more confident than ever that Nova Scotians will reap major benefits from the offshore." The premier described the outcome of the conference as a "big win" for Nova Scotia. "Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard retracted his position by agreeing with Nova Scotia that the market and regulatory agencies, and not political interference, should determine how Sable gas gets to markets in the United States. "The Nova Scotia government made its position on natural gas distribution very clear to the Quebec government and to other provinces prior to the Jasper meetings. As a result they all agreed with our position that economics, and not politics, should be the name of the game." The Quebec government is backing a pipeline proposal which would see Sable offshore gas transported through the Maritimes and into Quebec before being distributed to major markets in the United States. The current proposal being offered by the gas producers would see gas shipped through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and directly into New England. "There are serious questions about the Quebec proposal not the least of which is the Quebec government's separatist agenda," said Premier Savage. He pledged to continue to fight for the best deal for Nova Scotians. -30- Contact: David Harrigan 902-424-6600 jlw Aug. 29, 1996 4:40 p.m.