‘Grand bargain’: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ‘encouraged’ by federal government’s change of tone when it comes to energy

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is “encouraged” by the federal government’s change of tone when discussing energy following Monday’s meeting with fellow premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Carney and Canada’s 13 premiers gathered in Saskatoon on Monday to discuss the federal government’s commitment to fast-tracking “nation building” projects and breaking down internal trade barriers. He said there is “real potential” for an “oil pipeline to get to tidewater.”

Article content

“Within the broader context of national interest, the interest is in decarbonized barrels. It provides the development of new industries, it provides economic activity across the West and into the North. There’s real potential there,” Carney said.

“We took up a good deal of our time and discussions and potential to move forward on that and, if further developed, the federal government will look to advance.”

Smith has been vocal about her list of energy reform demands she wants Carney to address, including repealing Bill C-69 and lifting the emissions cap and said discussions will continue on that front.

Article content

“Let’s call it the grand bargain,” Smith said in response to a question about pipelines.

“I think the point I was making to the prime minister and my colleagues is that there’s lots of ways to decarbonize, but the Pathways Project is an expensive project. It would cost anywhere from $10 billion to $20 billion to get built and to make the economic case for that, having more egress with more barrels to be sold to Asia is the way to pay for it.”

Article content

Article content

She said Carney’s readiness to do a “two-track process” to identify projects and eliminate barriers that are currently in place is also encouraging, pointing to ways of fixing the regulatory processes to make it easier to approve projects moving forward.

“I’m encouraged by the immediate change of tone that we’ve seen from recent months. I think that there’s when we hear the prime minister talking about being an energy superpower. We haven’t heard that kind of language for some time on both the conventional and clean power.”

At the meeting Carney said leaders discussed a wide range of projects including the Western and Arctic corridor which connects energy critical minerals and trade infrastructure, the Eastern energy partnership and critical minerals pathways.

Carney said a number of projects were discussed on Monday and are in various stages and will not all come at the same time.

Article content

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this was “the best meeting” they’ve had in 10 years and now it’s time to put the talking into action.

“I thought it was an incredible meeting, great communication, great collaboration, and we all walked out of that room united, and that’s the most important thing. Now, the prime minister is going to go to work, get the legislation passed, and we’ll divvy it up,” Ford said.

ctran@postmedia.com

X:@kccindytran

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content