MONTREAL – New Democrat Finance critic Thomas Mulcair (Outremont) joined Jean-Claude Rocheleau, President of CEP Local 121, in denouncing the failure of the economic and energy policies of Stephen Harper’s Conservative as a factor of Shell’s decision to close down its refinery.

“The export of millions of unrefined litres of oil every day, without requiring any transformation in Canada, has led to the closing of the Shell refinery in Montreal,” said New Democrat Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair. “Since they took power four years ago, the Conservatives have accelerated the construction of pipelines that ship our raw natural resources and our jobs to the United States. Since 2006, thousands of jobs have been lost due to the lack of a coherent and sustainable energy policy in Canada,” added Mr. Mulcair.

The closing of the Shell refinery is an indication that the Harper government’s fiscal policies are failing, as the Finance Minister continues the efforts of the previous Liberals in draining Canada’s fiscal capacity by lowering corporate taxes without getting anything in return aside from job losses.

“This situation will only benefit the United States as they take our jobs and our oil that they will sell at higher prices,” said Jean-Claude Rocheleau. “The Prime Minister has clearly abandoned Canada’s energy security. Now, we will be at the mercy of the United States for the oil we use and for the price we will pay for it.”

Along with our energy security, the government also abandoned the concept of sustainable management of our natural resources. "What will they do now to protect our resources and our jobs?" asked Thomas Mulcair and Jean-Claude Rocheleau.