VICTORIA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his message of environmental protection and the need for an oil pipeline are the same as he visits British Columbia and Alberta this week.
Trudeau said Thursday the federal government needs to build a strong economy and protect the environment at the same time.
He said pipeline protesters outside the event probably approve of his government's carbon pricing plan, and when he gets to Alberta he'll likely meet people who aren't happy about that idea but like the pipeline approval.
Trudeau said he has faith in his government's ocean protection and emergency preparedness plans.
“I would not have approved this pipeline had I not been confident of that,” he told reporters in Victoria.
“It's precisely because of these stringent measures that we can stand behind our approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion with confidence. This project will be safe, jobs will be created and this pipeline will be built.”
About 100 people protesting against the pipeline expansion chanted “Leave it in the ground” not far from where the prime minister was getting a tour of a Canadian Coast Guard ship.
Trudeau said such decisions aren't made by “those who shout the loudest,” but are taken on the basis of facts, science and evidence.
About 200 people have been arrested near Kinder Morgan's marine terminal in Burnaby, B.C., in the last month during protests against the pipeline expansion.
Trudeau travels to Fort McMurray, Alta., on Friday when he was scheduled to visit a new Suncor facility.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was also on a B.C. tour swing during this week's break from Parliament.
Scheer spent three days in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, a region where the Conservatives would like to win back some of the seats they lost to the Liberals and NDP in 2015.
In visits to Kelowna, Penticton and Oliver, Scheer delivered speeches on everything from small business tax changes to government debt, and promised again that the first bill he would introduce if he becomes the prime minister is the repeal of a requirement for every province to have a price on pollution.
Scheer also spent time lambasting the Liberals new gun legislation, which aims to tighten controls on the sale and tracking of firearms, calling it a new gun registry. The Liberals say the bill is not a registry, but helps police investigating gun crimes with new requirements for retailers to keep records of inventory and sales for at least 20 years, while ensuring sellers make sure a buyer's license is valid before selling them a gun.
