Members of Quebec’s business community and leaders of several unions made a push in support of the controversial Energy East oil pipeline on Friday, touting the economic benefits it would bring to Montreal.

The group’s press conference comes ahead of planned public hearings into the pipeline which are set to begin next week. They said the project would bring at least 3,000 jobs to the Quebec region alone, would increase tax revenue by $2.5 million and would add another $12 billion to Quebec’s GDP, as well as reducing dependence on foreign energy sources.

While environmentalists have voiced concerns about the project’s safety, those concerns were dismissed, with members saying all regulations would be followed.

“If we have a resource in Canada, if it’s helpful to develop the economy in the country, why don’t we make sure we have access to it, no matter what happens internationally?” said Montreal Board of Trade President and CEO Michel Leblanc. “That’s a structuring project for the Montreal area.”

The pipeline would carry a million barrels of oil a day from Western Canada to oil refineries in the east. The company behind the project, Transcanada, has argued that it's safer and cleaner than transporting oil by train.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre has repeatedly voiced opposition to the project. While he has admitted there would be economic benefits, he has said the cost of a cleanup in case of a spill would far outweigh them.

Coderre has also called for next week's public meetings to be suspsended.. Earlier in August, it was revealed that former Quebec premier Jean Charest had met with members of the National Energy Board, who have final approval of the project, while he was working as consultant for Transcanada. The meeting called into question the impartiality of the NEB’s review process on Energy East.

"We feel there is a major perception problem," said Coderre. "We were supposed to be there on Monday to give the official position of the Greater Montreal community and the city of Montreal.We've asked a lot of questions and we're against the process of Energy East but at the same time, we feel the process is kind of tainted or there's a perception there might be a problem in the process, I believe we should postpone it."