Foothills MP John Barlow is back in Ottawa to resume the winter sitting of Parliament, in a much different world than the last time he was there.

He says one piece of good news for his riding was the U.S. approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

"Small business in our communities of Okotoks, High River, Black Diamond and Turner Valley, they rely on their families supporting those businesses and if they're not working, they're not spending money. So, if we have a chance to get these people back to work, that's a good thing. In Alberta we have more than 100,000 people in the energy sector out of work right now and any chance that we get to get those people back working is a positive."

He says over 4,000 jobs will be created in Alberta thanks to Keystone.

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