Prime Minister Justin Trudeau​ says his job is to look out for Canada's best interests and not act as a "cheerleader" for various pipeline projects as the previous Conservative government did.

Trudeau spoke at a news conference following a meeting with Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre. The two discussed a broad range of issues, including the Energy East pipeline, in Montreal on Tuesday morning.

"My responsibility as prime minister is to make sure that on national projects, we're behaving in a way that both contributes to the economy, to a secure environment, to bringing people together and mostly to creating a better future."

Trudeau said his government would act differently than the last.

"For 10 years, we had a government that acted as a cheerleader for projects instead of acting as a responsible referee and establish a clear, open, rigorous and transparent approval process — and that's what we intend to do," Trudeau said in French during a news conference in Montreal.

Asked whether the federal government will require new supplementary climate tests for proposed pipelines, Trudeau said the Liberals would build on existing environmental impact assessments and ensure "that in the process going forward we take into account all greenhouse gas emissions including those upstream."

More to come