Saskatchewan’s Minister of Energy and Resources, Dustin Duncan, spent the beginning of the week in New Brunswick. He was attending a meeting with his counterparts from across the country, including federal Energy Minister Jim Carr.

Duncan explained he stressed the point during the meeting Canada isn’t getting top dollar for their oil, as 99 per cent of Canada’s exports is going to the United States, due to a lack of tidewater access for the interior provinces.

We all suffer as a result of that,” Duncan said. “We’re not getting the world price for the commodity.”

While the pressures would be alleviated by the Energy East pipeline project, which would run from Alberta to New Brunswick, the pipeline itself wasn’t formally on the agenda for the meeting. Duncan didn't hesitate to bring up the issue, though, pointing out Canada imports 1 million barrels of oil a day, 30 per cent of which comes from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. He stressed the pipeline would eliminate those imports by replacing it with western Canadian oil.

Despite the absence of the pipeline on the agenda, Duncan said it was still a lengthy one. Topics included building public confidence in resource developments, advancing science and innovation, and ensuring effective regulations. They also discussed how to establish harmonization on energy efficiency standards between the federal, provincial and territorial governments.

“We know we’re transitioning; in that transition phase for a clean energy future,” Duncan stated. He added while the future is clean energy, the economy of Saskatchewan, and in part, all of Canada relies on oil as a major component right now, and getting the oil to market is a pressing need.