Canada’s energy conversation shouldn’t ‘start and end’ with pipelines, Carney says [Video]

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he agrees “more needs to be done” to support Canada’s energy sector and strengthen the wider domestic economy, but reiterated he believes the industry should not revolve solely around the conventional oil and gas pipelines that have long fuelled political debate out West.

In an interview Tuesday, Carney said his new government will be focused on diversifying the energy sector beyond its roots in Alberta’s oilpatch to include other, clean energy resources from across the country. He did not rule out pipelines as part of the discussion, but said he doesn’t believe most Canadians see those projects as the be-all-end-all option.

“It’s remarkable. In some circles, this conversation starts and ends with pipelines,” Carney told CBC’s Power & Politics host David Cochrane in Ottawa.

“But that’s what it has become politically,” Cochrane noted.

“No, that is not what it’s become politically. That is not what it’s become for Canada. Canada as a nation,” Carney …