CALGARY, Alta. – Gov. Jay Nixon held a conference call Tuesday afternoon from Alberta to discuss with reporters his three-day tour of the Canadian province. Nixon said the tour was an opportunity for the Missouri government to continue to strengthen economic relationships between the two governments, as well as the businesses that reside in each, after a new political party took control of the province.
Bilateral trade between Missouri and Alberta totaled over $450 million, and Missouri exported more than ten times that amount of money to Canada as a whole, mostly in agricultural goods like corn and soybeans. Alberta is one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas in the world, including trillions of barrels in unconventional oil reserves in its oil sands.
Nixon had lunch with Premier Rachel Notley and prominent members of her cabinet Monday, and he met with representatives of TransCanada Tuesday morning. The North American energy giant is at the heart of the Keystone pipeline controversy, though the company already has a pipeline in the state of Missouri. Wednesday, he will speak at the Canadian Oilmen’s Executive Board.
“One of our original strategies is paying significant benefits for us when we deal with regional provincial governments,” Nixon said. “Our focus when we get our agreement back is to focus on where we have already had strong relationships and then to take those relationships and build on them.”
The governor will return from his trip Thursday.
