Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province supports Ottawa’s second list of fast-tracked projects and is working with the federal government on an agreement that reflects Alberta’s priorities.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Nov. 13 announced the second tranche of so-called nation-building projects that will be referred to the Major Projects Office (MPO) for fast-tracking. Like the first list unveiled on Sept. 11, it did not include a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast–a project Premier Smith has long advocated as a key priority for the province.
“Alberta is supportive of all the projects included on the second list of nation-building projects,” Smith said in a statement, adding that the province is working on an agreement with Ottawa that includes the “removal, carve out or overhaul” of several energy policies and steps toward the approval of a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets.
“As we are currently in the final stages of this negotiation, we will know one way or the other in the coming days whether or not Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government intends to support Alberta’s economic future or if they will continue with the failed policies of the last 10 years,” she said.
Since Carney became prime minister, Smith has been urging Ottawa to remove or amend several federal policies she says have hindered Alberta’s energy production and economic growth over the Liberals’ past 10 years in power. These include the Impact Assessment Act, the oil and gas emissions cap, and the tanker ban off British Columbia’s north coast.
Smith had spoken about the province’s negotiations with Ottawa following a meeting with Carney on Sept. 10 in Edmonton, when she said she was “more optimistic than ever” that her province’s concerns were being heard, and that “an agreement that will profoundly benefit the Canadian and Alberta economies” would come soon.
Speaking at a press conference after Carney’s announcement of the first batch of major projects, she said she expected some results from those negotiations to be announced by the Grey Cup in mid-November, when Carney unveiled the second batch of major projects.
Her province’s priorities for its negotiations with Ottawa include the pipeline to B.C.’s coast; the Pathways Project, which involves the construction of a carbon capture and storage network in Alberta; and the long-requested changes to federal laws–a deal she calls “the grand bargain.”
Following Carney’s announcement of the second list of projects this week, Smith said she is “still hopeful” that an agreement with Ottawa, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, will be announced “in the next few days.”
“We’ve been going back and forth in some detail over many, many hours over the last couple of weeks, but I would say that we just need to give it a few more days to iron out a few more details,” she told reporters at an unrelated press conference on Nov. 14, adding that she expects the agreement to be announced before the end of the month.
“I was hoping for a Grey Cup, but if it takes just a few more days, then I think that Albertans will be satisfied with that.”
When Carney was asked where his negotiations with Alberta stood, after announcing the second list of major projects, he said he was “personally encouraged by the progress that we’re making,” and that there are still items to be worked out over the coming weeks.
“This is a very important process for the province, for the country,” he said at a Nov. 13 press conference. “We want to make sure we’re doing it right.”
He added that the Major Projects Office is “very much engaged” in projects related to carbon capture and storage, and that the Pathways Projects is a key part of the discussions Ottawa is having with Alberta.
When asked what he was calling on Smith to do on her side of any potential deal, Carney said Ottawa is looking for “a major investment” that puts the province and its oil and gas industry “in a position for the energy future.”
“The future of energy, clean and conventional, is low risk... it’s low cost and it’s low carbon,” he said, adding that another focus for Ottawa is “making our industrial carbon markets, the TIER market in Alberta, work more effectively.”
Carney’s first list of major projects included the second phase of an LNG project in B.C., a nuclear project in Ontario, the expansion of the Port of Montreal, a copper mine project in Saskatchewan, and a mine expansion in B.C.
The new list includes mining projects in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, a liquified natural gas (LNG) project and a transmission line in B.C., and a hydroelectricity project in Nunavut.
