Hacked emails show Hillary Clinton's campaign wrestled with how to announce her opposition to construction of the Keystone XL pipeline without losing the support of labour unions that supported the project. Clinton aides speculated that Obama delayed his announcement opposing Keystone due to the Canadian election, in which Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau ousted then-PM Minister Stephen Harper, an ardent Keystone proponent. Campaign feared losing labour union supportClinton campaign labour liaison Nikki Budzinski and others warned that opposing the Keystone pipeline might earn the ire of union leaders who supported the pipeline due to the thousands of construction jobs that would be created. 'Make America a clean energy superpower'On Sept. 22, 2015, Clinton appeared at a community forum in Des Moines, Iowa. "I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is — a distraction from important work we have to do on climate change," Clinton said.

Source: CBC News October 22, 2016 22:18 UTC