CALGARY - An oil and gas industry group meant to push some buttons when it made a proposal to Ottawa earlier this year.
The Petroleum Services Association of Canada recommended equalization payments be used as leverage to get reluctant provinces on-side with building pipelines.
The payments are meant to smooth out fiscal disparities between so called have and have not provinces.
The proposal was obtained by The Canadian Press through an Access to Information request.
Mark Salkeld, who heads up the association, admits the equalization-for-pipelines idea isn't an easy sell, but he wanted to stir things up.
He says he's sickened by the parochialism when provinces stand in the way of major projects that would help western oil producers access new markets.
But he says he isn't singling out any particular province.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall floated a similar idea on Twitter earlier this year.
He suggested Montreal-area mayors who don't support the cross-Canada Energy East oil pipeline could return their share of the 10 billion dollars Quebec gets in equalization payments from Ottawa.
