* Linda McQuaig says oilsands 'may have to be left in the ground'

Linda McQuaig, a star New Democratic Party candidate, says Alberta's oilsands may need to remain undeveloped in order for Canada to meet its climate change targets.

The NDP candidate for Toronto Centre told CBC News Network's Power & Politics there should not be a rush to extract from the oilsands without proper environmental assessments.

"A lot of the oilsands oil may have to stay in the ground if we're going to meet our climate change targets," McQuaig said.

"We'll know that better once we properly put in place a climate change accountability system of some kind," she told host Rosemary Barton. "And… once we have a proper review process for our environmental projects like pipelines."

McQuaig is a journalist and author whose books include Shooting the Hippo, which attacked the Liberal government's slashing of social programs to reduce the deficit, and It's the Crude, Dude, which examined the connection between America's dependence on foreign oil and its invasion of Iraq.