December 21, 1973
Page 43056
IMPACT OF CANADIAN OIL POLICY ON MAINE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, for as long as I can remember, the people of Maine have cherished a close feeling of friendship with our Canadian neighbors. There are strong cultural links between our peoples. Canadians helped settle and build my home State, and continue to make major contributions to Maine economic and social life to the present day.
This winter, Americans and Canadians alike are suffering the uncertainties and fears growing out of the fuel shortages which affect both our nations. These fears are increased on our side of the border by the concern that the Canadian Government will block the export of residual fuel oil vital to two major paper mills in Maine, with the potential loss of 8,000 jobs.
At issue is the question whether the National Energy Board of Canada will grant export licenses for continued shipments of residual fuel to Georgia Pacific Paper Co. in Woodland, Maine, and Great Northern Paper Co., based in Millinocket.
This situation has the potential to seriously undermine not only the good relations we in Maine have always had with our Canadian friends, but also the diplomatic harmony between our two Governments.
I believe this must not come to pass, and I hope the Canadians will agree.
On behalf of our colleague, Senator HATHAWAY, and of Congressmen PETER KYROS and WILLIAM COHEN of Maine, I would like to pose two questions to the Canadian Government.
We believe the answers to these questions are vital to the good health not only of our State of Maine, but of the traditional comity between our nations.
First. Is it in the Canadians' own best interest to stop the flow of oil to these companies?
Maine and Canada have strong economic ties. We buy goods from Canada and sell our products to Canadians in return. We employ Canadian workers in our factories, shops, and farms.
Canadians harvest wood in our forests for both Maine and Canadian mills. The State o' Maine Wood Products Co., is located in Daquaam, Quebec. The Fraser Paper Co., a Canadian firm, has plants on both sides of the border.
In the first 11 months of this year, almost 6.5 billion gallons of crude oil have been pumped from Portland, Maine, to Montreal refineries by pipeline, with Maine assuming the environmental risk associated with oil transfers.
And the Canadian national railway system stretches for 200 miles across Maine linking Quebec to the Maritime Provinces. Clearly damage to the Maine economy will mean damage to the economy of nearby Canada.
Closing of these mills would have a direct impact on Canada. Great Northern alone pays $5 million annually in wages and salaries to Canadian workers; buys $10 million in pulpwood each year from Canada; ships 7,000 carloads of freight on Canadian railroads; and ships thousands of tons of newsprint from Canadian ports. Purchases in Canada by Georgia-Pacific last year amounted to over $5 million.
My colleagues from Maine and I feel these facts provide compelling evidence that it is in the best interests of the Canadians to continue shipments of oil to Maine. We hope the Canadians agree.
Second. Have the Canadians thought about the long-range consequences of their action?
The oil shortage can place a severe strain on our traditional friendship with Canada. Both Americans and Canadians should recognize this. Our countries share the longest unrestricted border between two nations in the world. Our two nations have prospered from this cordial and open relationship.
As an example of this relationship, I have the honor and pleasure of serving as chairman of the Roosevelt Campobello Island International Park Commission. This commission was established as a symbol of the traditional bonds of friendship between Canada and the United States.
It is imperative, then, that the decisions we reach separately to deal with our own problems do not add to our neighbor's problems.
The future of United States-Canadian relations depends on our ability in time of stress to seek cooperative resolutions of problems affecting both sides of the border.
Mr. President, I and the other members of the Maine congressional delegation are hopeful that the Government of Canada will respond to the strong bonds and cooperative spirit which have characterized its relations with our Government.
I find it difficult to accept the idea that we are entering a period in which we will see a retreat from these close ties.
To believe otherwise would be to dismiss the experience of my lifetime and of almost 200 years of our Nation's history.
Finally, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a telegram I sent yesterday to Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, be printed at the conclusion of my remarks.
There being no objection, the telegram was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows
DECEMBER 20, 1973.
THE RIGHT HONORABLE PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada,
Ottawa.
DEAR MR. PRIME MINISTER: Together with Senator William Hathaway, Congressman Peter Kyros and Congressman William Cohen, I met this afternoon with representatives of the Great Northern and Georgia-Pacific paper mills which are located in the State of Maine. We discussed the acute problem facing both of these mills in the absence of any assurances that the National Energy Board of Canada will be able to approve export licenses for residual fuel oil shipments after December 1973 from their traditional sole supplier in the Province of New Brunswick.
After consulting with our State Department and our Federal Energy Administration, the Maine Congressional Delegation felt that I, as Chairman, should take the unusual step of addressing you directly in order to bring this most difficult situation to your personal attention.
We have been mindful of the public assurances you have given that your government, while necessarily giving first attention to Canadian needs, will do everything it can to take account, as well, of problems on our side of the border. Our particular concern is that in these two cases the criterion of Canadian needs may be construed so narrowly as to result in unnecessary harm to the interests of the economies on both sides of Maine's border with eastern Canada.
As I am sure you are aware, the economies of Maine and eastern Canada are so intimately related that the threatened closing of these mills will inevitably have prompt and unhappy consequences for the citizens of both countries. I am told, for example, that among the some 8000 jobs which depend upon these mills, more than 1000 are held by Canadians. As a further example, I understand that over 50 wood mills in southern Quebec and New Brunswick now thrive on raw materials from Maine forests, and wood pulp valued at millions of dollars is purchased annually from Canada for use in these two paper mills.
My point here is that so serious a disruption of the closing of Great Northern and Georgia-Pacific would inevitably have adverse effects across the border as well. I would earnestly hope, therefore, that your authorities could bear in mind that the problem is not simply the arithmetic of current residual fuel demands in both jurisdictions, but has broader implications of which I know neither government wants to be unmindful.
I understand that authorities of our two governments have been in touch with each other about the more general problem both of us face in this difficult period of acute energy shortages, and I am told further meetings are contemplated at an early date. This is encouraging and is in the traditional pattern of Canadian-American cooperation. I know, however, that both of us are struggling with new problems of massive dimensions and that it is going to take time for us to sort the ways in which we can best take account of each other's problems. My concern is that the establishment of the mechanics for such cooperation will inevitably take time and that meanwhile serious injustice may inadvertently be suffered in the two cases at hand.
I have long taken a special interest in our relations with Canada and indeed have been honored to serve on the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission. It is with this in mind that I have presumed to make this direct appeal to you and to ask you to do whatever you appropriately can to ensure that the applications for the mills in question are examined in the broad context of the need of both countries for continued cooperation.
I realize we are quickly approaching the Christmas Holiday Season, but the particular cases at hand are most urgent. If it would be helpful to your authorities, therefore, my colleagues in the Maine Congressional Delegation and I would be prepared to visit Ottawa within the coming week or ten days in order to help answer any questions, provide any further information and to explain more fully the depth of our concern as legislators.
With cordial best wishes,
Sincerely,
EDMUND S. MUSKIE,
U.S. Senator.