SASKATOON - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has made a blunt appeal to the United States to buy Canadian energy which he says is as clean as that from many American sources.

Wall delivered the keynote address Monday at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a bi-national working group of state and provincial officials, business leaders and academics.

Wall said he winced every time during the acrimonious debate in the U.S. over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline when he heard Americans use the phrase "dirty Canadian oil" or "extreme energy" to describe Canada's exports.

"I'll tell you what I think extreme energy is," he said, alluding to the Middle East. “I think energy that is secured directly or indirectly by putting the sons and daughters of Americans in harm’s way – that’s extreme energy.”

"Energy you acquire from countries where the majority of citizens just flat don't like you — that's extreme energy."

Wall did not name any particular country, but everyone took him to be referring to the war in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia is a big supplier of American oil.

Wall said that Canadian energy sources are no more carbon intensive than many of home-grown options in the U.S.

"California thermal oil has about the same life cycle CO2 footprint as (steam-assisted gravity drainage) oilsands oil from Alberta, and larger than any you'll find in … Saskatchewan," he said.

No state governors from the Pacific Northwest are attending the four-day meeting in Saskatoon this week, but Wall's message was heard by some 56 state legislators.

The Pacific Northwest group has 10 members: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.

Wall said he experienced numerous "frustrations" in recent years when dealing with the United States, especially in the case of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oilsands bitumen from Alberta through several states and into Texas for refining.

"In our view the delay was made for political reasons ...." he suggested

Nevertheless, Wall said, he has "a gut feeling" the pipeline will be approved after the November presidential elections — no matter who wins.

Wall called on Americans to curb their "protectionist instincts" and said recent trade headaches have both Canada and Saskatchewan "looking at all options" on the trade front.

At the four-day conference, officials will search for ways to speed up the Canada-US border, reinforce energy and food security, and improve livestock health.

Former Canadian diplomat and bilateral relations expert Colin Robertson said Wall's blunt tone is often what is needed to get through to the Americans.

"It's good for them to be reminded in direct terms, because that’s how Americans talk to one another — it's much more direct," he said.

Americans must constantly be reminded, Robertson said, that some eight million US jobs depend on trade with Canada, and that Canada is the number one trading partner for 37 states.

"He reminded Americans that they matter to us, but we also matter a lot to them," he said. "That's a message Americans need to hear because there’s not always that appreciation."

Conservative MP Rob Merrifield, a member of the Canada-US Interparliamentary Group, said problems along the border cost Canada between $16 billion and $48 billion a year — the equivalent of one to three per cent of Canada’s GDP.

Merrifield said there is a new-found appreciation in the United States for Canadian economic thinking and he has been invited to speak to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about Canada's approach.

"They know what’s going on down there isn't working — their economy is sluggish and their numbers are weak — and I think they are genuinely looking for some answers," he said.

While his speech was mostly tough talk, Wall did thank Americans for assisting Canada in joining join a new trade alliance in the Pacific rim.

"We're grateful to the U.S. for their help in securing the invitation to participate in the Trans Pacific Partnership."

10 IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT CANADA'S OIL INDUSTRY

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• 10. Oil And Gas Accounts For 4.8 Per Cent Of GDP

  The oil and gas industries accounted for around $65 billion of economic activity in Canada annually in recent years, or slightly less than 5 per cent of GDP. Source: <a href="http://www.ceri.ca/docs/2010-10-05CERIOilandGasReport.pdf" target="_hplink">Canada Energy Research Institute</a>

• 9. Oil Exports Have Grown Tenfold Since 1980

  Canada exported some 12,000 cubic metres of oil per day in 1980. By 2010, that number had grown to 112,000 cubic metres daily. Source: <a href="http://membernet.capp.ca/SHB/Sheet.asp?SectionID=9&SheetID=224" target="_hplink">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers</a>

• 8. Refining Didn't Grow At All As Exports Boomed

  Canada refined 300,000 cubic metres daily in 1980; in 2010, that number was slightly down, to 291,000, even though exports of oil had grown tenfold in that time. Source: <a href="http://membernet.capp.ca/SHB/Sheet.asp?SectionID=7&SheetID=104" target="_hplink">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers</a>

• 7. 97 Per Cent Of Oil Exports Go To The U.S.

  Despite talk by the federal government that it wants to open Asian markets to Canadian oil, the vast majority of exports still go to the United States -- 97 per cent as of 2009. Source: <a href="http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/statistics-facts/energy/895" target="_hplink">Natural Resources Canada</a>

• 6. Canada Has World's 2nd-Largest Proven Oil Reserves

  Canada's proven reserves of 175 billion barrels of oil -- the vast majority of it trapped in the oil sands -- is the second-largest oil stash in the world, after Saudi Arabia's 267 billion. Source: <a href="http://www.ogj.com/index.html" target="_hplink">Oil & Gas Journal</a>

• 5. Two-Thirds Of Oil Sands Bitumen Goes To U.S.

  One-third of Canada's oil sands bitumen stays in the country, and is refined into gasoline, heating oil and diesel. Source: <a href="http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/statistics-facts/energy/895" target="_hplink">Natural Resources Canada</a>

• 4. Alberta Is Two-Thirds Of The Industry

  Despite its reputation as the undisputed centre of Canada's oil industry, Alberta accounts for only two-thirds of energy production. British Columbia and Saskatchewan are the second and third-largest producers. Source: <a href="http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/statistics-facts/energy/895" target="_hplink">Natural Resources Canada</a>

• 3. Alberta Will Reap $1.2 Trillion From Oil Sands

  Alberta' government <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/27/alberta-oil-sands-royalties-ceri_n_1382640.html" target="_hplink">will reap $1.2 trillion in royalties from the oil sands over the next 35 years</a>, according to the Canadian Energy Research Institute.

• 2. Canadian Oil Consumption Has Stayed Flat

  Thanks to improvements in energy efficiency, and a weakening of the country's manufacturing base, oil consumption in Canada has had virtually no net change in 30 years. Consumption went from 287,000 cubic metres daily in 1980 to 260,000 cubic metres daily in 2010. Source: Source: <a href="http://membernet.capp.ca/SHB/Sheet.asp?SectionID=6&SheetID=99" target="_hplink">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers</a>

• 1. 250,000 Jobs.. Plus Many More?

  The National Energy Board says oil and gas employs 257,000 people in Canada, not including gas station employees. And the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says the oil sands alone <a href="http://www.capp.ca/aboutUs/mediaCentre/NewsReleases/Pages/OilsandsaCanadianjobcreator.aspx" target="_hplink">will grow from 75,000 jobs to 905,000 jobs by 2035</a> -- assuming, of course, the price of oil holds up.

THE OIL SANDS AND CANADA'S ENVIRONMENT

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• Syncrude Upgrader and Oil Sands

  The refining or upgrading of the tarry bitumen which lies under the oil sands consumes far more oil and energy than conventional oil and produces almost twice as much carbon. Each barrel of oil requires 3-5 barrels of fresh water from the neighboring Athabasca River. About 90% of this is returned as toxic tailings into the vast unlined tailings ponds that dot the landscape. Syncrude alone dumps 500,000 tons of toxic tailings into just one of their tailings ponds everyday.

• Boreal Forest and Coast Mountains / Atlin Lake, British Columbia | 2001

  This area, located in the extreme northwest of British Columbia, marks the western boundary of the Boreal region. On the border of the Yukon and Southeast Alaska, the western flank of these mountains descends into Alaska's Tongass Rainforest and British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. Far from the oil sands, the greatest remaining coastal temperate and marine ecosystem is imminently threatened by the proposal to build a 750-mile pipeline to pump 550,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude to the coast. Once there, it would be shipped through some of the most treacherous waters, virtually assuring an ecological disaster at some point in the future.

• Tailings Pond in Winter, Abstract #2 / Alberta Tar Sands | 2010

  Even in the extreme cold of the winter, the toxic tailings ponds do not freeze. On one particularly cold morning, the partially frozen tailings, sand, liquid tailings and oil residue, combined to produce abstractions that reminded me of a Jackson Pollock canvas.

• Aspen and Spruce | Northern Alberta | 2001

  Photographed in late autumn in softly falling snow, a solitary spruce is set against a sea of aspen. The Boreal Forest of northern Canada is perhaps the best and largest example of a largely intact forest ecosystem. Canada's Boreal Forest alone stores an amount of carbon equal to ten times the total annual global emissions from all fossil fuel consumption.

• Tar Sands at Night #1 | Alberta Oil Sands | 2010

  Twenty four hours a day the oil sands eats into the most carbon rich forest ecosystem on the planet. Storing almost twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical rainforests, the boreal forest is the planet's greatest terrestrial carbon storehouse. To the industry, these diverse and ecologically significant forests and wetlands are referred to as overburden, the forest to be stripped and the wetlands dredged and replaced by mines and tailings ponds so vast they can be seen from outer space.

• Dry Tailings #2 | Alberta Tar Sands | 2010

  In an effort to deal with the problem of tailings ponds, Suncor is experimenting with dry tailings technology. This has the potential to limit, or eliminate, the need for vast tailings ponds in the future and lessen this aspect of the oil sands' impact.

• Tailings Pond Abstract #2 | Alberta Tar Sands / 2010

  So large are the Alberta Tar Sands tailings ponds that they can be seen from space. It has been estimated by Natural Resources Canada that the industry to date has produced enough toxic waste to fill a canal 32 feet deep by 65 feet wide from Fort McMurray to Edmonton, and on to Ottawa, a distance of over 2,000 miles. In this image, the sky is reflected in the toxic and oily waste of a tailings pond.

• Confluence of Carcajou River and Mackenzie River | Mackenzie Valley, NWT | 2005

  The Caracajou River winds back and forth creating this oxbow of wetlands as it joins the Mackenzie flowing north to the Beaufort Sea. This region, almost entirely pristine, and the third largest watershed basin in the world, will be directly impacted by the proposed Mackenzie Valley National Gas Pipeline to fuel the energy needs of the Alberta Oil Sands mega-project.

• Black Cliff | Alberta Oil Sands | 2005

  Oil sands pit mining is done in benches or steps. These benches are each approximately 12-15 meters high. Giant shovels dig the oil sand and place it into heavy hauler trucks that range in size from 240 tons to the largest trucks, which have a 400-ton capacity.

• Oil Sands Upgrader in Winter| Alberta Oil Sands | 2010

  The Alberta oil sands are Canada's single largest source of carbon. They produce about as much annually as the nation of Denmark. The refining of the tar-like bitumen requires more water and uses almost twice as much energy as the production of conventional oil. Particularly visible in winter, vast plumes of toxic pollution fill the skies. The oil sands are so large they create their own weather systems.

• Boreal Forest and Wetland | Athabasca Delta Northern Alberta | 2010

  Located just 70 miles downstream from the Alberta oil sands, the Athabasca Delta is the world's largest freshwater delta. It lies at the convergence of North America's four major flyways and is a critical stopover for migrating waterfowl and considered one of the most globally significant wetlands. It is threatened both by the massive water consumption of the tar sands and its toxic tailings ponds.

• Tar Pit #3

  This network of roads reminded me of a claw or tentacles. It represents for me the way in which the tentacles of the tar sands reach out and wreak havoc and destruction. Proposed pipelines to American Midwest, Mackenzie Valley, and through the Great Bear Rainforest will bring new threats to these regions while the pipelines fuel new markets and ensure the proposed five fold expansion of the oil sands.