Alberta premier in New Brunswick to push west-east pipeline

New Brunswick Premier David Alward says a visit by his Alberta counterpart will help promote the importance of building the west-east pipeline project.

Alison Redford will deliver a speech to the New Brunswick legislature today before heading to Saint John to speak with the city's board of trade and tour the Irving Oil refinery, Canada's largest.

"It's my first opportunity since we started this initiative to be in New Brunswick to be able to be meeting with industry leaders and some community leaders to talk about this," Redford said.

"New Brunswick is very excited about this prospect. I think it's really transformed their economic outlook which is exactly the point of why we talk about a Canadian energy strategy," she said.

Alward says the proposal to carry western crude to eastern refineries and export markets would have a significant economic impact for the entire country.

TransCanada Corp. is seeking binding commitments from oil producers before determining whether to convert an existing three thousand kilometre natural gas pipeline to carry crude into Quebec, with the possibility of a 14-hundred-kilometre extension to Saint John.

The Calgary-based company has set June 17 as the deadline for those commitments.

Alward says he believes there is a business case that will create jobs and fuel the economy.