Palin urges Obama to seek closer ties with Canada

uploaded by Blue Crush December 9, 2008 at 06:24 am
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Palin urges Obama to seek closer ties with Canada by Blue Crush

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks with CTV's Canada AM 12/09/08
during an interview in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Governor Sarah Palin spoke to CTV's Canada Am from Fairbanks Alaska today, just after signing the deal with TransCanada pipeline. She's granted the company US$500 million to plan the pipeline, with construction set to begin in 2011.

Just a few days after signing a historic agreement that will see a Canadian company build a massive pipeline to flow natural gas from Alaska to Alberta, Gov. Sarah Palin says she is working to strengthen relations with Canada, and Barack Obama should too.

She suggested the contract is an example of cross-border co-operation that Democratic president-elect Barack Obama can learn from. "I want to grow the relationship we have with Canada," Palin said. "I know Alaska is doing all we can to grow that relationship and we've gotta have faith that the newly elected administration will see the light on that and work very hard to increase and strengthen the relationship between our two countries."

She said Canadians have much in common with Alaskans, from the love of hockey, hunting, fishing and the great outdoors.

Palin predicted the newly signed 2,700-kilometre pipeline project will boost U.S. domestic energy supply by 7 per cent and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil sources.

"This has been long hoped for, prayed about, wished for, for really about 50 years here in Alaska," Palin said.

In the interview, she spoke of disagreeing with President elect Obama's intentions of renegotiating the Free Trade Agreement. "I do not support that, but I think .. he's going to see some conditions that will allow him to temper his position even on that."

NAFTA, she said, has resulted in jobs in both the U.S. and Canada, and must be protected in order to keep both countries' economies "revving."

Palin said she agrees with Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, saying she was surprised he hadn't chosen the former first lady as his vice-presidential running mate during the campaign.

As for her own political future, she was less clear, saying "some days politics make me roll my eyes and say, I don't know if politics are in my future .. it's certainly not the be-all for me personally." "If there are platforms, opportunities for me to be able to effect positive change in people's lives, whether that's political or another venue, I will embrace that."