Juno News - Is Carney REALLY better than Trudeau？ I asked Danielle Smith.

00:00:00.000 Hi, I'm Candace Malcolm, and this is The Candace Malcolm Show. We have a very special episode for

00:00:06.640 you today, folks. We are joined by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Danielle, thank you so much for

00:00:11.500 your time. Thanks for doing this. My pleasure. So it looks like you've had an incredibly busy

00:00:15.600 week. You were in Saskatoon earlier this week for the first ministers' meeting, and then it looks

00:00:21.120 like you went straight to Washington, D.C. to do more negotiations. So let's start with the

00:00:25.200 first ministers' meeting. I have to admit, I was a little surprised when I saw this headline in

00:00:28.980 the Calgary Herald from Rick Bell saying Smith vows to work with Kearney says he is way better than

00:00:34.620 Justin Trudeau. So can you sort of walk us through the meeting, what it was like? And it seems like

00:00:40.200 you were quite happy with the prime minister and what came out of that meeting. Well, I think that

00:00:44.840 the liberals almost faced annihilation in December. Six months ago, we were talking about them not

00:00:50.980 existing at all, and they had to do a major pivot and rethink of their positions and what had brought

00:00:55.420 them there. And clearly it was all of the anti-development, extreme environmental policy

00:01:00.380 that was hurting people and preventing projects from getting built. So I think we saw an immediate

00:01:04.800 pivot with the cancellation of the hated carbon tax on retail users. And now we have nine bad pieces

00:01:11.700 of legislation that are related to that, that also have to be repealed or substantially revised if we're

00:01:17.520 going to improve the investment climate for business. What I'm encouraged by is that the prime

00:01:23.140 minister is talking about a national projects list, identifying projects of national priority

00:01:29.240 that will have a fast track to approval as we're working through trying to change the legislative

00:01:34.160 framework. And so I'm prepared to work with him on that. We have a major project we'd like to see

00:01:38.840 built. We'd like to see a bitumen pipeline to the Northwest BC coast, probably Prince Rupert,

00:01:43.580 coupled with the Pathways project, which is the big oil sands project that would decarbonize their

00:01:49.520 production. And if we can get those two things together, I think that'll be a real demonstration

00:01:53.480 that we do have a change of direction with this prime minister. So we're going to test it out

00:01:57.760 and I'll work with him until it becomes apparent one way or the other, whether it is a true change

00:02:04.180 of direction or not. Well, it seems like it's great to see your optimism. And I think we're all very

00:02:09.780 hopeful that we can see major projects like this being built. Just today, Friday, the Carney government

00:02:15.020 did introduce new legislation that would cut internal trade barriers and try to advance these

00:02:20.440 nation building projects. I had a little chuckle when I read what this was, because it basically

00:02:24.720 creating a new government department to try to fast track internal trade and internal pipelines. It just

00:02:29.500 seems like such a typical liberal thing to do. Like we're going to try to try to streamline things by

00:02:34.540 creating more bureaucracy and more government. So I'm wondering if I could get your quick reaction to

00:02:39.420 this new proposed legislation. Well, there's no question that they are creating a new process because of

00:02:45.380 all of the bottlenecks and drag that they have on all of their other bureaucratic processes. But that being 0.88

00:02:50.620 said, they may be borrowing from what they're seeing in the United States with this Energy Security Council

00:02:56.460 headed up by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. He's got everyone at the table who has the potential to block

00:03:02.780 any major projects so that he can find a fast track for them. And so if we're replicating that process, I think

00:03:09.040 that's good. But in the end, if we're going to get private proponents, we can't just continue to

00:03:14.940 maintain the laws that are suppressing private sector investment. We've got to repeal or replace

00:03:21.280 them. And so if it means that we can get projects identified that will get exemptions so that they

00:03:27.400 can go forward, and through that process, we learn what we need to change in the others, then it may end

00:03:33.500 up working out. I'm just encouraged by the fact that we're now talking about mining again in all of the

00:03:38.860 provinces. Gold mines in Manitoba, the Golden Triangle in British Columbia, more potash and

00:03:47.400 uranium in Saskatchewan, and yes, bitumen out of Alberta. The fact that we're talking this way and

00:03:53.100 talking about how all of us can work together to get our projects built and get our product to new

00:03:57.820 markets, I think it's an absolute sea change in the conversation. And I think if the federal

00:04:02.600 government is able to support us in those efforts, I think it's going to be good for all of Canada.

00:04:07.620 Well, I want to ask you about specifically the Alberta Accord, and then you re-emphasize the sort

00:04:12.380 of nine terrible laws. And I believe you sent a letter to Prime Minister Carney this week sort of

00:04:17.520 outlining it, the one that you just mentioned, guaranteeing Alberta gets full access to unfettered

00:04:22.800 oil and gas corridors to the north, including that pipeline that you mentioned. But then we also heard

00:04:27.220 this week from British Columbia Premier David Eby saying that they won't be changing their mind on

00:04:32.680 another BC pipeline. And of course, we've heard Mark Carney in the past saying that they will not

00:04:37.680 impose a project on a province, that they need to build the consensus. So do you feel like we're

00:04:43.480 heading in the right direction? Do you think that a pipeline can be built under these circumstances?

00:04:48.600 Well, we did end up seeing two pipelines built under similar circumstances. The coastal gasoline pipeline

00:04:53.620 did get built. The Trans Mountain pipeline did get built. Both of them were more expensive than they

00:04:58.460 needed to be. The latter would have been better if it had been done by the private sector. But

00:05:03.200 unfortunately, because of the investment climate, it had to be done by government. But I think that

00:05:07.520 that's a demonstration that you can identify what the issues are and try to address them.

00:05:11.820 And so I know that there are certain issues that developed out of the previous approach with

00:05:17.400 Northern Gateway. There needs to be more robust equity ownership, I believe, by First Nations.

00:05:23.640 We need to perhaps reconsider the port so that it doesn't go through the Douglas Channel at

00:05:28.100 Kitimat. Port-au-Prince-Rupert is really more of a direct line of sight to the open sea. And then

00:05:33.920 the issue of trying to have a lower emissions product going through it. The Pathways project

00:05:38.980 would lower emissions. They intend to be net zero by 2050 through a combination of carbon capture,

00:05:45.840 nuclear and hydroelectric power, and direct air capture. So I've been supportive of their approach.

00:05:51.520 And if we can find a way to identify the objections and address them, then I don't see any reason why

00:05:57.340 we can't get that consensus. Interesting. I want to ask you about this new Angus Reid poll that was just

00:06:03.000 released showing that Canadians are rather dismissive of Alberta's grievances. From my perspective, a little

00:06:08.220 bit of Ontario, and I think that Alberta has a lot of legitimate grievances, but it seems like my fellow

00:06:13.480 Canadians in this part of the country don't agree. So when asked, do you think Alberta has been treated fairly,

00:06:18.160 or the West, sorry, has been treated fairly? Basically, Western Canadians say, you can see the

00:06:23.020 graph on the screen, that they say that no, 70% of Albertans say no, 74% of people in Saskatchewan say

00:06:28.900 no. But then when you go to the eastern part of the province, it's flipped, right? So, you know, 62% in

00:06:34.820 Ontario say yes, they're treated fairly, 77% in Quebec. And then the next question is, does Western

00:06:39.580 Canada complain too much? 66% of people in Canada say yes, they complain too much. 57% in Quebec, 53% in

00:06:47.140 Ontario's. Premier, I'm wondering what you make of the attitudes that seem to be coming from eastern

00:06:52.740 Canada that think that Alberta is treated just fine and that the complaints are unwarranted?

00:06:57.340 Well, I guess I think people need to understand that there's only two provinces that don't have

00:07:04.200 access to a coast, and that's Alberta and Saskatchewan. It means that we have to rely on the goodwill and

00:07:10.900 generosity of our neighbours more than any of them do. And sadly, we haven't had enough goodwill and

00:07:16.980 generosity of our neighbours. It's been a fight on everything that we've wanted to build to the

00:07:20.760 point now where if we had been able to build all of the pipelines that we wanted to, Energy East,

00:07:26.120 Northern Gateway, and Keystone, we would have two and a half million barrels more per day

00:07:30.520 of production, which would generate $55 billion of additional GDP, of which we'd probably get $17

00:07:37.380 billion of additional revenue, and the federal government would get somewhere near that.

00:07:41.040 So these are not inconsequential issues. I mean, I would challenge other provinces to identify

00:07:48.000 a similar amount of projects that have been stymied or cancelled by their federal government,

00:07:53.780 resulting in a similar amount of economic damage. I don't think that there is any.

00:07:58.020 So maybe we have been a little more stoic than we should have about how unfair and unreasonable it

00:08:04.100 was, but we're not being stoic and silent anymore. We're saying this is our time,

00:08:07.800 that we need to get another pipeline built to Tidewater. If we're genuinely interested

00:08:12.920 in getting our markets expanded, we can't keep sending everything to the United States. We have

00:08:19.280 to build a pipeline to the East Coast of a substantial nature so that we can continue to

00:08:23.600 develop our Asian markets. Ideally, we will also get a pipeline built to Churchill so that we would

00:08:28.440 be able to, with icebreakers, move up and over and feed the East Coast refineries as well as get to

00:08:33.140 Europe. But that's what nation-building projects look like. It means we work together for our mutual

00:08:38.820 benefit. That's the spirit that I'm approaching this with. And I think it's the spirit that the

00:08:42.740 other premiers are approaching it with as well.

00:08:45.620 Well, I take your note that Alberta has been quite stoic in the past. And yet, you know,

00:08:51.160 I will say the day after the federal election, I was receiving emails and notes and messages from

00:08:55.500 people in Alberta saying, enough is enough. Now is the time to go it alone. And it's independence.

00:09:02.520 I interviewed Preston Manning on my show, and he said that he thought that Mark Carney will be the

00:09:07.540 last prime minister of a united Canada, which is a pretty strong and bold statement. I'm wondering,

00:09:12.280 we saw that you made changes to the Citizens Initiative Act to lower the threshold to trigger

00:09:16.440 a referendum. Do you think that this is a legitimate cause? And how do you see that movement playing

00:09:23.500 out? There have already been two questions that have been filed on the new referenda thresholds,

00:09:29.980 and both of them are related to issues of sovereignty. One saying, let's stay in Canada,

00:09:36.340 and the other one saying, let's go it alone. So I'll watch and see which petition campaign gets the

00:09:40.960 most signatures, and if either of them get enough to be able to be put to a vote. But my job is to see

00:09:46.720 this very legitimate concern that Albertans have, that Canada is just not working for Alberta. We are on

00:09:53.300 Team Canada, but Team Canada is not on Team Alberta. And the way that we can address that is by having

00:09:59.320 these big nation-building projects that benefit everyone go ahead in a way that has not been

00:10:05.360 possible or easy in previous years. So I want to work with the prime minister. I want to take him

00:10:11.560 at his word that he wants to be an energy superpower on both conventional and new energy. We have the

00:10:16.560 ability to develop both out. I know that all of the other premiers are putting forward really

00:10:21.320 interesting mining projects that might not have been considered six months ago, but are actively

00:10:26.280 being considered now. I think we've realized what happens if you have incredible resource wealth,

00:10:32.280 whether it's critical minerals or uranium or gold or bitumen, and you leave it in the ground. You end

00:10:37.420 up impoverishing your people. You end up not being able to see your standard of living and quality of

00:10:41.340 life go up. You end up falling behind every single country in the OECD. And the only way to change that

00:10:46.920 is to change behavior. And we've got to start developing the resources the world wants. Do

00:10:51.880 it in an environmentally responsible way with Indigenous partners. And I think we can develop

00:10:56.600 a new era of incredible prosperity for everyone. That's what I'm hopeful for. I think that's what

00:11:01.400 the premiers are hopeful for. Maybe it's taking some of the people that Angus Reid pulls a little

00:11:06.040 longer to catch up. But I think that's where the Canadian sentiment is.

00:11:09.080 Well, I do love the optimism there, Premier. I wanted to ask you about your trip to Washington,

00:11:14.120 D.C. The headlines were saying that you saw a breakthrough in your discussions with the

00:11:19.800 Americans. You mentioned Doug Burgum earlier in the discussion. So can you walk us through

00:11:23.400 what's happening with that? There are a number of projects that are being proposed to get more

00:11:28.520 pipeline access into the United States. And I think the race is on for which one is going to

00:11:35.320 emerge as the initial proponent and the initial approved project. And the Americans are very keen

00:11:41.880 to fast track, as I mentioned with that energy council. But I think that that's something that

00:11:46.360 Canadians have to be mindful of. What does it say to Alberta if it's easier for us to trade with the

00:11:50.920 United States than to trade with each other? What does it say to Albertans if we continue to have

00:11:55.640 provinces block our projects while Americans embrace them? I think that that would be moving in the

00:12:00.120 wrong direction. What I hear and my takeaway from the last election was that people want a more

00:12:07.240 moderate government that is going to be supportive of these economic interests. And so, as I say,

00:12:12.040 I think the race is on because there are a number of projects that could potentially be approved and

00:12:16.200 go ahead in the United States. My priority, though, would be getting that new pipeline to the northwest

00:12:21.640 BC coast because I think that would do so much to not only improve the wealth of Canadians, but it also

00:12:26.600 would ensure that we get new markets, which is absolutely essential to ensure that we don't

00:12:32.120 continue to be reliant on the United States. Well, forget about politics for a moment. I think all of

00:12:37.880 Canada is definitely behind Edmonton right now with the Oilers heading into the finals. I think it's

00:12:43.080 game two tonight. I know you're from Southern Alberta, Premier. So can you confirm, will you be

00:12:48.600 cheering for the Oilers and what do you think is going to happen? Always. I grew up in an Oilers family.

00:12:53.240 And so, you know, my brother hates it when I say it, but he cried when Wayne Gretzky was traded.

00:12:58.040 And then I was also, after that, a Flames fan because we took it to the Cup in 89. I'm one of

00:13:04.120 these true, I call it a unicorn, that I'm an Albertan who really does root for both teams.

00:13:09.880 So it just so happens that the team that's making it the furthest is the Oilers this year for the

00:13:15.000 second time. And we're all very hopeful that they're going to bring the Cup home and make all Canadians proud.

00:13:19.320 Excellent. Well, Premier Smith, thank you so much for your time and your insight.

00:13:23.000 We really appreciate you joining the show today.

00:13:24.280 You bet. Thanks again.

00:13:25.160 All right. Thanks so much, folks. We'll see you back on Monday. I'm

00:13:28.520 Candice Malcolm. This is Candice Malcolm's show. Thank you and God bless.

Juno News - June 09, 2025

Is Carney REALLY better than Trudeau？ I asked Danielle Smith.

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