Juno News - EXCLUSIVE： Danielle Smith on Canadian energy, floor-crossings and Alberta independence

00:00:00.000 Our guest today is Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Welcome to the show.

00:00:09.360 Hi, Mark.

00:00:11.520 This week there was a Globe and Mail story reporting that the Federal Energy Minister,

00:00:16.240 Tim Hodgson, was pressing the oil industry, and I'm sure you're aware of it, for increased

00:00:21.200 output from Canada given the Iran war and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

00:00:26.560 Now, the industry responded by saying, well, there's little it can do to increase crude

00:00:32.640 in the short term.

00:00:33.640 And then you had the leader of the opposition calling the globe headline foolish, suggesting

00:00:38.460 that Prime Minister Carney has not approved a single pipeline, his major projects office

00:00:44.900 has approved no new projects, nor has he repealed a single Trudeau era anti-development law.

00:00:51.920 Where do you stand on all of this, Premier?

00:00:53.800 I would say that the fact that we had these nine terrible laws that were in place that created

00:00:59.880 a dampening effect on investment, we're living it today. We could have had the Energy East

00:01:04.680 Pipeline built, the Northern Gateway Project built, the Keystone XL Pipeline built if we'd

00:01:08.680 had a federal government that advocated on our behalf. And that would have been able to allow us

00:01:12.600 to today have two and a half million more barrels per day going to market. So there is a decade of

00:01:17.560 missed opportunity. That being said, it takes a lot of effort to, especially with the minority 0.88

00:01:22.920 government and the committee process to try to undo all of those bad laws and so what i'm seeing

00:01:28.040 the federal government do is they're creating workarounds on their own laws that's what the

00:01:31.480 c5 major projects office was about is what their mou with us was about is that we're we're working

00:01:37.160 through one by one dismantling the the those bad laws from the trudeau era and i hope what follows

00:01:43.480 up is the and the changing ultimately through the parliament of those of that legislation in order

00:01:49.400 to solidify that so that everybody knows what the rules of the game are across the entire country.

00:01:54.200 But the fact of the matter is we did have 10 years of lost opportunity and let's not have

00:01:59.160 another 10 years of lost opportunity going forward.

00:02:01.960 But the idea that we can ramp up production, it sounds ludicrous to suggest that can happen

00:02:08.040 you know at the drop of a hat. I mean obviously we know that the world needs production. It must

00:02:13.960 be frustrating for you to see that Canada is in a position in terms of its verb of also all sorts

00:02:21.800 of energy, that we could fill the gap in terms of what's happening on the world's supply through

00:02:27.400 the strait and so forth. Is it frustrating for you to not be able to fill in the gap of energy

00:02:35.320 when the world is at war in the situation it's in? Well, it does take time. There's no question,

00:02:40.920 especially if you're building Greenfield. Our proposal for a new pipeline to the northwest

00:02:45.560 BC coast, a million barrels a day, that's likely going to be even our plan is to put it into the

00:02:51.320 Major Projects Office for approval in June, hopefully get the go-ahead before the end of

00:02:56.120 the year. Then it's a matter of doing the route and the Indigenous consultation. That will take

00:03:03.320 years when you go from the final investment decision all the way through to completion.

00:03:07.800 However, we could dredge the second narrows and start expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline.

00:03:13.400 And I see that the Trans Mountain management team is proposing three steps to be able to

00:03:18.840 increase their barrels to another 370,000 barrels per day. Enbridge is talking about ways in which

00:03:25.080 they could expand their main line. And Southpaw is already in the middle of an open season to use

00:03:30.360 existing Keystone assets in order to expand their line. So there are some things that can be done

00:03:35.160 with dredging with compression with friction reducing agents there are some things that

00:03:40.120 can be done to increase production but if you want sort of the step scale improvement

00:03:44.680 in in production that could meet the the challenge of today that that is just going to take time but

00:03:51.160 what i'm encouraged by is that canadians get this it may take federal politicians particularly

00:03:56.840 liberal politicians a little while to understand this but but the canadians understand this when

00:04:02.360 when we asked them,

00:04:03.260 do you think we should be building more pipeline access?

00:04:05.860 It's over 70% across the country 0.58

00:04:08.220 and it's a majority in every single province.

00:04:10.760 And so I think we won the argument.

00:04:12.820 We even have editorial boards of major newspapers

00:04:15.560 like the Globe and Mail saying that building pipelines

00:04:17.580 is now a national imperative.

00:04:19.060 And that was not the conversation

00:04:20.460 that we were having a year and a half ago.

00:04:22.160 So whatever flirtation the decision makers

00:04:27.600 of a particular perspective had for the last 10 years

00:04:29.900 the world could run on solar and winded batteries, I think that that has now been completely

00:04:34.620 dismantled. And now we have a more honest assessment of what it is that we're going

00:04:38.700 to need to ensure that the world has enough supply of oil and gas to fuel our growth and

00:04:43.780 to make sure that we're managing quality of life issues and also to be able to manage

00:04:46.860 through these kinds of unexpected disruptions.

00:04:49.800 Back on March the 9th, and we have a clip of Energy Minister Tim Hodgson. He said that

00:04:54.580 Canada was already an energy superpower, and that his government was already fast-tracking

00:05:00.220 projects like the Taylor to Gordondale Pipeline, for instance, and the Sunrise Expansion Project.

00:05:07.100 Let's listen to that clip. I'd like you to weigh in on it.

00:05:10.560 Mr. Speaker, Canada's an energy superpower, and last year, Canadian oil production reached

00:05:14.960 a record high. No one can predict the future of energy markets, but our allies are looking for

00:05:20.500 stable reliable energy supplies in an increasingly uncertain world that's why we're fast tracking

00:05:26.900 projects like the tailored to gordondale pipeline that's why we're fast tracking projects like the

00:05:31.700 sunrise expansion that's why the tmx optimization is moving forward mr speaker we are helping solve

00:05:38.260 the world's affordability problem now i looked into that and i found no evidence that those

00:05:44.980 projects were being fast-tracked by Ottawa, and that was either one of them, that they've followed

00:05:51.300 pretty much the standard regulatory process. Is the minister, is Ottawa in general lying about

00:05:56.820 fast-tracking energy projects? And if so, why?

00:06:00.100 Well, I would say they're actively not standing in the way of them anymore. You have to remember

00:06:04.660 that, especially in the last four years, we had policies emanating from the Environment

00:06:10.180 department and Stephen Guibault's office in particular, that were clearly designed not only

00:06:15.280 to slow down projects, but to shut them in. If we'd continued on with emissions cap, we would

00:06:19.880 have been talking about shutting in 2.1 million barrels per day. So returning to a normal

00:06:25.540 regulatory process where we can figure out the technical specifications and ensure environmental

00:06:30.060 issues and landowner issues and First Nations issues are resolved, that's just good practice.

00:06:34.760 And so I would say that the active obstruction has stopped. And now I guess we'll see if the

00:06:39.740 proactive enhancement will commence at pace. That's what we're hoping on with the proposal

00:06:48.380 in the major projects office. We'll see whether or not the federal government is committed to truly

00:06:53.740 advancing some of these major projects. But we're going into the process with good faith.

00:06:58.780 We've gone into our MOU discussions with good faith. We're making good progress at that table

00:07:02.540 there as well in addressing outstanding issues. But what you just heard from the energy minister,

00:07:09.020 rewind 16 months ago you were not hearing that from the energy minister or the environment

00:07:14.140 minister even the prime minister that that long ago so i think that there has been a recalibration

00:07:19.740 i think the world has had a recalibration we welcome it we're we've we've stayed in the same

00:07:23.980 position we've always had that the world needs more canadian energy more alberta energy in

00:07:27.900 particular and we're glad to see that that politicians uh that have historically been

00:07:32.380 opposed to that in recent years have now changed their tune on that that's i that's i think positive

00:07:36.380 for the country. I'm just not sure that the minister isn't playing fast and loose with

00:07:40.920 terms like fast tracking, because, you know, not obstructing isn't quite the same as fast tracking.

00:07:47.480 But obviously, they're feeling the pressure. And, you know, is that why you think they're using

00:07:52.760 these types of terms and suggesting that no, Canada is a number one, you know, energy superpower?

00:08:00.240 I mean, feeling the crunch here? Are Canadians starting to get it?

00:08:04.160 Well, I think Canadians got it a long time ago, and we have been aiding in that. Last year, we did the first part of our major reserve study in Alberta, because I was watching as Yahoo Finance and various other popular finance articles were doing infographics that didn't even include the incredible resources we had in Alberta.

00:08:24.840 I saw one where they were talking about oil reserves and Canada was not even on the map.

00:08:28.760 So another where they did the natural gas reserves and they said, yeah, Canada has natural gas, but it's all in Nova Scotia.

00:08:34.720 And so we at last year at the Houston CIRA Week, we revealed that we have 167 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.

00:08:43.780 We've got 1.8 trillion in place. So as the technology improves, we'll be able to develop more and more.

00:08:48.460 I just got an update. It's now 177 billion barrels because that work has been complete.

00:08:53.560 and we also have 1.4 quadrillion cubic feet of gas, of which 144 trillion cubic feet are

00:09:00.120 recoverable at today's technology. And that doesn't even talk about the immense oil and gas

00:09:04.740 resource well that is offshore in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, or the incredible

00:09:11.380 gas resources available in Quebec. So I hope that all of those other provinces do the same kind of

00:09:17.920 reserve study that we have because Alberta alone is an energy superpower, but Canada, if we

00:09:23.720 developed all of our resource potential, truly we'd be able to continue to increase in reliability

00:09:30.900 and also increase our global supply. When I look at our opportunity in Western Canada,

00:09:38.220 it clearly is oriented towards our Asian markets. But if you look at the opportunity in Eastern

00:09:43.340 Canada is oriented towards helping our European friends and we should be encouraging all of those

00:09:49.820 premiers and the federal government to fast track those proposals too.

00:09:52.780 Do you think that if the Kearney government manages to get a working majority by way of

00:09:58.700 floor crossing that helps or hurts Alberta's goals in terms of getting more pipeline construction?

00:10:05.420 I, if what we're seeing in the first months of Carney's tenure as Prime Minister is to remain consistent, then I think what you could see with a majority government is that they will now have the means to be able to move along and change the legislation in an expedited way.

00:10:25.780 Like when you can, when all of your proposals and legislation can be derailed at committees because you don't have a majority, I can see perhaps why they have been reluctant to move forward at pace on that.

00:10:36.940 But I think it certainly could help.

00:10:39.500 And that's what we're anticipating, regardless, that the major projects office is going to be a real and legitimate process.

00:10:46.300 And that's why we're working to get our project proposal in.

00:10:49.160 So you think it would be helpful to muster up a majority, even by way of four-crossing, 1.00

00:10:56.540 that would help you push forward your goals as far as energy goes?

00:11:00.660 Look, I know that the Liberals had a near-death conversion before the last election.

00:11:07.460 And nothing clarifies, I suspect, the priorities of government faster than realizing you're

00:11:13.740 about to lose it because you've lost the confidence of the people.

00:11:16.400 That's why they saw an immediate change in the carbon tax, which was hated and unpopular

00:11:20.900 and hurting people.

00:11:22.380 And it's why I think they've worked with us to identify the terrible laws that have been

00:11:25.880 holding back our country and, incidentally, every province who had major mining operations

00:11:31.880 that they wanted to get advanced.

00:11:33.360 So it is a recent conversion.

00:11:36.220 There's no question about it.

00:11:37.220 And I hope it sticks because let's be honest, there's a number of people who are in the

00:11:41.920 current government who were there for the 10 years that they were going in the exact opposite

00:11:46.480 direction. I continue to believe leadership matters, change of direction matters,

00:11:52.000 circumstance matters, and that this is a genuine understanding that Canada has a place in the

00:11:56.960 world and we need to fill it. Does it help to have a majority government? Certainly in all cases it

00:12:04.720 does, but what matters more is that we continue down this track. We don't want to see a majority

00:12:10.160 used as an excuse to say, okay, now we can take a foot off the gas and we don't have

00:12:13.980 to do these things.

00:12:14.980 I think it makes it more important to move at a fast pace, especially with what we're

00:12:20.300 seeing in the world environment.

00:12:22.180 Pierre Polyev is headed to Texas, to Houston, and I believe to Austin for meetings with

00:12:27.740 people in the energy industry and so forth.

00:12:30.260 Do you think he'll be able to move the needle?

00:12:32.720 And did you speak with him ahead of his trip, maybe to get some thoughts on where he could

00:12:38.480 know, take the, take Canada's argument. I think he's, I think the approach that he's taking is

00:12:43.500 very wise. It's similar to the one that I've taken, which is that we've got to meet with

00:12:48.620 everyone who has the potential to influence this administration. I know it's with interest. He's

00:12:52.820 not going to Washington DC, but I mean, CIRA week is coming up in Houston in the next couple of

00:12:58.860 weeks. I'll be going there again myself to deliver some remarks. And that's important because the

00:13:05.340 reason I think we've been able to make strides with the United States administration on ensuring

00:13:10.520 that oil and gas is not tariffed. In fact, 97% of Alberta's products go back and forth across the

00:13:16.000 U.S. border tariff-free. It's because we've built a community of interest that understands how

00:13:20.900 important it is to get these raw materials from Alberta. And so my voice has been there. Other

00:13:26.220 premiers' voices have been there. Having the official opposition leader meeting with those

00:13:30.100 same voices and saying, keep up your advocacy. It's important to us. It's important to American

00:13:33.760 producers. It's important to American consumers. We all benefit from having a tariff-free marketplace.

00:13:39.200 I think it's important work that he's doing. I'm very supportive of him going down.

00:13:42.800 Is the possibility of an independence referendum in Alberta helping your position? I mean,

00:13:48.880 do you see it as a kind of bargaining chip or as leverage in your negotiations with Ottawa?

00:13:55.440 Well, I look at it as a fact that both I have to deal with and the prime minister has to deal with.

00:14:00.400 The independence polling got up to 42% when the Liberals won government again.

00:14:08.080 It's the highest I'd ever seen it.

00:14:09.900 And so when I met with the prime minister, I said, we've got to solve this problem.

00:14:14.020 We've got to give Albertans hope again.

00:14:15.680 The fact that you have anywhere from a million to a million and a half adult voting Albertans thinking that the country doesn't work,

00:14:22.960 that should be something that both myself and the prime minister take seriously and we have.

00:14:27.000 And so I think it's part of the reason why we were able to negotiate on an MOU and we're working through at least some of the major pressure points, not all of them.

00:14:34.400 I mean, there's obviously a difference in perspective that we have about other issues, things like immigration, things like gun control that continue to be pressure points as well for that movement.

00:14:43.960 But a lot gets solved if people can invest, if they can have a good paying job, if they can take care of themselves, their families and their communities, and they're not feeling like they're being actively suppressed by their federal government.

00:14:55.520 So I would say that the work that I am doing is to try to give people hope again and to demonstrate that Canada can work.

00:15:01.880 And as we start making some strides, I'm hopeful that that is going to be less of a factor.

00:15:06.940 But there's no question.

00:15:08.540 There's a lot of people, because of the way the federal liberals treated our province for 10 years, who have given up.

00:15:14.500 Speaking of which, last question.

00:15:16.020 have you considered the possibility that the power structure in Ottawa, the Laurentian power

00:15:22.260 elite, doesn't want Alberta to get any richer than it is, even at the expense of the rest of

00:15:29.480 the country, because the shift in economic power West would inevitably lead to political power

00:15:35.980 moving in that direction, and they want to hold on to that power. Have you considered that?

00:15:40.840 It's a bit of a crab trap mentality. Someone told me years ago that if a

00:15:44.440 crab tries, dares to try to make its way out of the crab trap, the others will grab it and pull

00:15:49.800 it back down. And I hope that that is not how Canada operates. I would hope that everyone would

00:15:55.640 see that when Alberta does well, the rest of the country does well. I think again, regular citizens

00:16:00.680 see that. That's part of the reason why they want us to work together to get our product to market,

00:16:04.760 and why they're supportive of that. Why some of the power elites in that triangle you mentioned

00:16:10.680 sometimes don't seem to see that.

00:16:13.240 That's, I think, to the detriment of the country.

00:16:15.360 And so I regularly make trips out east,

00:16:17.820 going to Ottawa, going to Toronto, going to Montreal.

00:16:20.340 And I would say when I meet with the business community,

00:16:23.300 they tell me, how can we do business together?

00:16:25.680 And we're looking at ways that we can continue to do investment.

00:16:28.980 We just had a major investment from a Quebec-based company,

00:16:31.600 CAE, developing out a massive new training center

00:16:34.260 for flight attendants and airline pilots with WestJet.

00:16:38.480 And they want to do more as we continue to build out the defense spending.

00:16:42.460 We've got four major bases in Alberta, and there's a lot of collaboration that we can have with both Ontario and Quebec defense businesses in order to be able to meet our collective national and international goals.

00:16:55.360 So I would say there may be some of the commentariat who have a particular perspective.

00:17:01.200 I don't know that that represents very well the business community or people in general.

00:17:05.460 And so, that's why I continue to make the case that a strong Alberta means a strong

00:17:09.900 Canada.

00:17:10.900 And I would hope to hear more voices making that case in Eastern Canada as well.

00:17:14.280 Premier Danielle Smith, thank you so much for coming on the show.

00:17:17.360 We appreciate it.

00:17:18.360 You bet.

00:17:19.360 Thanks, Mark.

00:17:20.360 If you enjoyed this show, consider supporting great independent journalism by becoming

00:17:23.860 a premier member of Juno News.

00:17:26.180 Go to junonews.com backslash straight up.

00:17:29.520 That's the name of this show, junonews.com backslash straight up, it helps us do what

00:17:34.380 we do.

00:17:35.380 We'll see you next time.

Juno News - March 13, 2026

EXCLUSIVE： Danielle Smith on Canadian energy, floor-crossings and Alberta independence

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