Eighty-eight per cent of respondents to a new poll see oil and natural gas as important to Canada's economy

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A growing number of Canadians want more pipelines built in the country.

Now, a new poll finds 88 per cent of respondents view oil and natural gas as important to the country’s economy today, up nine percentage points over the past half year, while seven in 10 see it as important to Canada’s future economy.

Meanwhile, more premiers and federal politicians are climbing aboard the infrastructure train and want major projects constructed.

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As U.S President Donald Trump escalates tariff threats to the country and sentiment is growing that Canada needs to build more export-related developments — including oil and gas pipelines — how does talk turn into action?

“We really seem to struggle as a country with execution,” said Monica Gattinger, a political scientist and chair of the Positive Energy research program at the University of Ottawa, which commissioned the poll.

“The big question is, how do we turn this moment into momentum?”

It’s an important issue.

At a Financial Executives International Canada luncheon in Calgary on Thursday, former Trans Mountain Corp. CEO Ian Anderson and former Alberta premier Jason Kenney offered their ideas on how to get new energy infrastructure developed.

It’s time to act while there is growing alignment between various levels of government, Indigenous communities, industry players and a strong majority of Canadians, said Anderson, who led the Trans Mountain expansion project for more than a decade until his retirement in 2022.

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“If we as a nation are going to do anything going forward, that (alignment) is the No. 1 thing we need, And........

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