Danielle Smith: Budget cannot be balanced without pipelines

If we want to reduce our dependence on the U.S., increase funding for social programs and meet our international commitments, we need another pipeline, writes Danielle Smith. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/Postmedia files

There’s an alternate reality where Canada — rather than engaging in economic self-destruction — had built the Northern Gateway, Energy East and Keystone XL pipelines .

That reality would have added about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day in pipeline export capacity . At today’s prices, that would generate $55 billion in revenues or more than one per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually.

All three pipelines would have boosted GDP by $21 billion per year through operational pipeline activity alone and added more than 62,000 jobs and bi