Excerpted from Globe and Mail Study gives Harper new clout in push to sell oil to U.S. SHAWN McCARTHY — GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER OTTAWA— From Thursday’s Globe and Mail Feb. 03, 2011
“Our powerful card is that we are safe and secure; we’re the safe upper north as opposed to the volatile Middle East,” said Colin Robertson, a former official at the Canadian embassy in Washington and now an adviser with McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP.
Mr. Robertson said he would expect the prime minister will raise the pipeline issue as part of their broader discussion on enhancing cross-border security and trade. “If we’re looking at a big deal, it’s got to be more than a security pact, it’s got to be an access pact, and that includes our pipelines and electricity grids.”