New Brunswickers face a difficult choice when it comes to TransCanada's proposed Energy East pipeline. Can they support a project that will make a significant contribution to the provincial economy if they are concerned it will harm the environment?

Make no mistake: the pipeline will spark New Brunswick's economy. It will create more than 5,000 jobs in its construction and operation phases. Then there will be the thousands of jobs that come with an upgrade to the Irving oil refinery in Saint John, and the spinoffs from them. It would by no means be a stretch to estimate that New Brunswick would gain 10,000 jobs as a result of Energy East. That's enough to provide jobs for more than a quarter of New Brunswick's unemployed.

The economic benefits would accrue to hard-pressed governments as well as young people looking for work. The pipeline project alone would generate an estimated $760 million in provincial tax revenue, enough to more than wipe out a year's worth of the province's deficit. The municipal tax benefit for Saint John of the proposed refinery expansion would be $5 million per year.

In total, it's estimated that Energy East will generate more than $3 billion in economic activity in New Brunswick.

At least some of this money will find its way into the pockets of the hundreds of the Boilermakers union members I have the honour to represent in New Brunswick. Boilermakers build and maintain big energy facilities like refineries, so many of our members would no longer have to travel to other provinces for jobs.

Balanced against these advantages are legitimate concerns about the environment and safety. Environmental proponents have warned that increased tanker traffic could be a danger to marine life in the Bay of Fundy, which in turn would affect the important fishing and tourism industries.

Their concerns are legitimate and need to be addressed. The National Energy Board has been conducting hearings and TransCanada itself has met hundreds of community groups throughout the country. In the end, the decision on whether or not to build the pipeline may rest on the company being able to accommodate the many groups concerned with its environmental impact.

Oil itself, however, will be a mainstay of our economy for some time. If you took every passenger vehicle in North America off the road, it would only cut our oil consumption by 40-50%. Petroleum products are used in an astonishing array of products, from medications to plastics.

The Energy East pipeline will be a safe pipeline. Transmission pipelines in Canada operate with a 99.999% safety record. New technology, which will monitor Energy East 24 hours a day, will keep that record intact.

Transporting oil by rail is much more dangerous than doing so by pipeline. In one month in 2015, North America saw four oil-train incidents, two of which occurred near the same community in Northern Ontario. One of these spilled oil from 35 tank cars - potentially carrying more than 25,000 barrels of oil - into a pickerel spawning bed. The fires took days to extinguish. And, of course, there was Lac Megantic, which involved exactly the oil Energy East would carry.

By contrast, a Transportation Safety Board report shows the majority of crude-oil pipeline incidents in 2014 involved less than seven barrels of oil, with only one involving the release of more than 6,000 barrels.

Communities along the pipeline's route have a right to be concerned. We all want to protect our drinking water and our natural spaces. TransCanada, however, says it will develop specific routing, safety and recovery plans in co-operation with local groups for each location at which there is a possibility of danger.

In my view, the way forward is to embrace economic progress, but ensure that the interests of those most affected are respected. This means an open and honest dialogue. Energy East could be a strategic piece of national infrastructure, as important as the railways and the St. Lawrence Seaway in their day.

My view is also based on confidence. Having worked as a Boilermaker and seen the technological challenges we overcome, I am confident we can mitigate environmental impacts, ensure the safety of our communities and come to agreement on a strategic national project that will benefit all Canadians.