00:00:00.000Good morning everyone. I hope you enjoyed hearing the comments of the Prime Minister this morning.
00:00:04.480I was pleased he was able to pop up and see you before going on to some of his other meetings
00:00:08.780today as well as a speech at the chamber. I'm so delighted to be here with not only members of my
00:00:16.140cabinet but also our partners in Indigenous communities. We've got Rebecca Schultz, Minister
00:00:21.340of Environment and Protected Areas, Raj Ansani, Minister of Indigenous Relations, Jason Nixon,
00:00:25.500Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services. He was part of our negotiating team.
00:00:30.320Nathan Neudorf, Minister of Affordability and Utilities.
00:00:32.580Minister of Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals.
00:00:36.240And then, of course, we have Billy Morin, former chief, but he's now MP for Edmonton Northwest.
00:00:41.620Former Chief Jim Boucher of the Mackay First Nation.
00:00:45.080Chris Sankey, former councillor of Laxcolam Band in British Columbia.
00:00:50.440Dave Lamouche, President of Métis Settlements General Council.
00:00:53.320Chief George Arcand Jr. of Alexander First Nation, Chief Tony Alexis of Alexander Nakodosu Nation,
00:00:59.860Chief Cody Thomas of Enoch Cree Nation, Chief Kelsey Jacko of Cold Lake First Nations.
00:01:05.640We also have a friend visiting from Saskatchewan, Chief Delbert Wapas of Thunderchild First Nation,
00:01:12.960and of course Stephen Buffalo, President and CEO of the Indian Resource Council.
00:01:16.260We had a few others on the list. I'm not sure that they are here, but I'm going to see more at the Indian Resource Council meeting a little bit later today
00:01:22.460where I'm going to to go for a lunch speech. But today is a great day for the people of Alberta
00:01:28.920and for all of Canada. The last 10 years have been an extremely difficult time for hundreds of
00:01:33.820thousands of Albertans and their families that directly or indirectly rely on and make their
00:01:38.940living from a strong and vibrant and growing Alberta oil and gas sector. These Albertans
00:01:43.940are mothers and fathers and young people working so hard to put food on the table,
00:01:47.820to pay for hockey and soccer fees and to save for the down payment on their first home.
00:01:53.260These are also small business owners that too often have found themselves as well in their business
00:01:59.380working very hard to build due to a regulatory environment that has made it almost impossible for them to succeed.
00:02:07.660And more broadly, the last 10 years have left hundreds of thousands of Albertans skeptical
00:02:11.760and oftentimes questioning the long-term viability of our nation
00:02:15.860as we watched its deliberate phase out of our province's most valuable asset leaving it trapped
00:02:21.620and wasted in the vast oil sands of northern Alberta and with it innumerable lost investment
00:02:27.840opportunities and tens of thousands of lost jobs. These were dark times but in those difficult
00:02:33.120circumstances Albertans came together as we always do to raise our voices and use our ingenuity to
00:02:38.980find a way to overcome the challenge. We fought and won in the courts of law. We fought and won
00:02:43.700in the court of public opinion and we fought because we had to because that's what albertans
00:02:47.700do we always fight for the very hard for this province that we love so dearly and for its
00:02:52.580incredible people but albertans are also proud and loyal canadians we don't fight for the sake
00:02:58.020of fighting we don't look for conflict when there's an opportunity for peace and prosperity
00:03:03.220albertans are happiest when we are hard at work getting things done solving problems creating
00:03:08.260opportunities building our province and our country that is when we are truly at our best
00:03:13.620however in order for alberta to find its way to prosperity within a united canada we need the
00:03:18.980federal government to partner with us instead of fighting against us now prime minister mark
00:03:25.380carney and i may not always agree on everything but we do share a few key beliefs we both know
00:03:31.780that canada can never reach its true potential as a global energy superpower without a strong
00:03:37.300and thriving alberta energy sector at the center of that effort and i am pleased to say that this
00:03:42.500prime minister has made it clear to me that he is willing to work with me and alberta's government
00:03:47.620to accomplish that shared goal and that my friends is something that we have not seen
00:03:52.580from a canadian prime minister in over a decade and it is my firm belief that albertans from
00:03:58.580right across the political spectrum whether they be staunch federal conservatives or liberals or
00:04:04.020or New Democrats or something else, they expect me, as their premier, to partner with this
00:04:09.300federal government to seize this long-awaited opportunity for our province.
00:04:13.920I've spoken at length about the need to build more pipeline infrastructure, to export more
00:04:19.600oil to hungry Asian markets, and to diversify our customer base.
00:04:23.580I have repeatedly stated how critical it is to reform a broken regulatory environment
00:04:28.820that is scaring away investment and demoralizing our energy entrepreneurs here at home.
00:04:34.020And I have asked repeatedly for the federal government to cease their attempts to throttle our energy industry,
00:04:40.000repeal or overhaul their nine bad laws,
00:04:42.340and work with Alberta to grow our energy sector for the benefit of the entire country.
00:04:47.880And today's agreement is the first step in accomplishing all of these critical objectives
00:04:52.480and unleashing the power and promise of Alberta's energy sector in a way never seen before in this country.
00:05:04.020This agreement means the end of the punitive oil and gas emissions cap so that our great
00:05:13.020energy producers can grow and thrive again.
00:05:15.900This agreement means the immediate suspension of the federal net zero power regulations
00:05:20.380in Alberta, which had placed our electrical grid at a very serious risk of failure and
00:05:26.260limited any hope of substantial investment in AI data centers and applications development.
00:05:32.020This agreement includes a clear path to the construction of an over one million barrel
00:05:36.880per day indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline to Asian markets so that our province and
00:05:42.580our country are no longer dependent on just one customer to buy our most valuable resource.
00:05:47.740This agreement also allows for needed adjustments to the tanker ban when the new pipeline to
00:05:52.580Asia is approved by the Major Projects Office, as well as amendments that will ensure our
00:05:57.560companies are able to advertise their environmental leadership and efforts
00:06:01.820throughout the world without a fear of penalty and this agreement also means
00:06:06.020that Alberta will be a world leader in the development and implementation of
00:06:10.280emissions reduction infrastructure particularly in carbon capture
00:06:14.540utilization and storage Alberta has a unique opportunity to show the entire
00:06:18.560world that the solution for reducing emissions does not entail capping
00:06:23.060productivity growth or innovation in oil and gas development rather it is
00:06:27.500to leverage the profitability of the oil and gas sector to invest in the very technologies
00:06:32.940that will revolutionize all industries in their effort to reduce emissions globally
00:06:38.460this agreement means alberta will work with our federal partners and the pathways companies to
00:06:43.260commence and complete the world's largest carbon capture utilization and storage infrastructure
00:06:48.540project it will also make alberta heavy oil the lowest intensity barrel on the market
00:06:54.380and displace millions of barrels of heavier emitting fuels around the globe this is alberta's
00:06:59.340moment of opportunity our opportunity to show the nation as well as the entire world that resource
00:07:04.780development and emissions reduction can not only coexist but can actually complement one another
00:07:10.300for the benefit of billions of people around the world alberta is willing to take on and conquer
00:07:15.260the challenge as partners with the federal government now i need to be clear the government
00:07:20.300is just this agreement with the government is just the first step in this journey there is much more
00:07:26.140hard work to be done trust must be built and earned in the partnership as we move through the
00:07:31.020next steps of this process whether that be working with the federal government to prepare our bitumen
00:07:35.980pipeline submission for the major projects office or putting together the final elements of a carbon
00:07:41.660pricing agreement that will be implemented through the province's tier program that balances
00:07:46.780competitiveness with accountability for heavy emitters and although i am not blind to the fact
00:07:51.580that the people of alberta have had the rug pulled out from underneath them too many times to count
00:07:56.060over the past 10 years i also know that a new relationship and a new beginning needs a starting
00:08:01.500point grounded in good faith and today i hope is that new starting point so i do want to thank the
00:08:08.780the Prime Minister so I do want to thank the Prime Minister as well as his team
00:08:21.800for working with my team to get this agreement to the finish line I'd also
00:08:25.300like to thank our negotiating team and that included ministers Jason Nixon and
00:08:29.540Rajan Sani along with my chief of staff Rob Anderson and deputy ministers Liam
00:08:34.580Stone and Larry Kohlmeyer for the great work that they did on this initiative and I'm excited as is my government and our UCP
00:08:41.080MLA's to roll up our sleeves and to continue the work over on this remarkable opportunity for Alberta and for Canada and with that I'd be happy to take questions
00:14:19.920Since we have used carbon capture technology before for enhanced oil recovery, that's another part of this announcement is that CO2 will be able to be used for enhanced oil recovery, which should allow us to generate more revenue.
00:14:31.920so I would say that you don't always get a hundred percent of what you want but we addressed seven
00:14:42.600out of the nine bad laws that I'd put on the table to I think the what will be the satisfaction of
00:14:47.340Albertans and I think that this will allow us to see some substantial investments I mean that's
00:14:53.340the thing about a peace deal you have to make it with an enemy so I suppose the fact that for a
00:14:58.200decade his glasgow financial alliance for net zero it was about putting a capital strike on
00:15:05.240the oil and gas sector just a couple weeks ago he was asked about pipelines and he said boring
00:15:12.040so is there anything i mean after a lifetime of attacking the oil patch he was even interrogated
00:15:19.560by the u.s congress for an attempt to to capital strike their oil companies is there anything the
00:15:25.880the Prime Minister has said to you in private that you could share with us that would signal
00:15:32.440that his lifetime's work of attacking carbon-based fuels will somehow be put to the side? Like, I
00:15:40.820think he's just a slightly smarter version of Stephen Gilbeau. I think he hates the oil patch
00:15:46.360as his life's work. Is there anything he's said to you that make you believe that maybe he has,
00:19:36.400You've seen Enbridge talk about 400,000 barrels a day on their main line that they want to expand.
00:19:41.400TMX has talked about an additional 400,000 barrels per day that they want to optimize.
00:19:46.400Southbow using the old Keystone assets have talked about a 650,000 barrel a day project.
00:19:52.400I've been in touch, the folks from the St. Lawrence Seaway Group have been in touch with me saying,
00:19:56.400can we get oil to Thunder Bay so that we can get it out on tankers to markets in Europe.
00:20:04.400We have oil-by-rail projects being talked about going all the way to Nova Scotia and being exported out of Sydney.
00:20:11.200I'm watching with great interest as Manitoba Premier Wab Kanu negotiates an economic corridor co-owned with First Nations.
00:20:18.820And whether there's an opportunity for us to also be able to have a pipeline go there and also reach European markets.
00:20:27.300Doug Ford and I signed an MOU about perhaps having a spur line going to James Bay with a similar kind of model.
00:20:32.180So all of those projects are now going to be able to go ahead because there is not going to be an emissions cap on our production.
00:20:41.740And in the meantime, because I think our biggest opportunity is a new market, a new pipeline to get to markets in Asia, I'll be spending a lot of time working on that.
00:20:50.480So we have, I think, 20 individuals at our table giving us advice from all of the big pipeline companies who have over 100 years, I think, of expertise, more than that, I think, combined in doing these kinds of big projects.
00:21:07.900And in the end, you'll see the MOU says that we want a private proponent to build that.
00:21:12.920i don't think it would be success if we have to have the federal government once again
00:21:17.080have to pay for an overpriced uh expensive pipeline i think we want to create the condition
00:21:22.840so that the private sector has confidence and we'll build it so that's what we're working towards
00:21:26.440we knew we needed to get through these first few phases but i'm pretty confident with the people
00:21:30.600we have at the table that one or a consortium of them once we establish that it is on the major
00:21:36.600projects list we'll be willing to take this on you have mentioned that it's a long road you still
00:21:41.080to build trust you've had the rug pulled out from you before pipeline aside is the changes to the
00:21:47.240emissions cap and the clean energy regulations enough do you think to increase oil production
00:21:52.760in alberta and improve the investment environment here i think almost certainly the the problem with
00:21:58.200the emissions cap is that especially with the interim targets of 2030 and 2035 the only way to
00:22:03.880achieve that because we wouldn't have been able to build the carbon capture utilization and storage
00:22:08.200or the fuel the fuel variety like nuclear or do or have advanced direct air capture the only way
00:22:16.600to achieve them would be to shut in production it wasn't just us saying that there's several
00:22:21.000different reports that went out saying as much as two million barrels a day would have to be
00:22:25.000shut in by 2035 so we now have a longer time horizon to address the issues of emissions we've
00:22:32.120big changes that we're going to have a look at heavy oil on the basis of emissions
00:22:37.800intensity compared to other heavy heavy barrels around the world that is also i think going to
00:22:42.840be a major confidence booster and then on the other side when i was recently in the middle east
00:22:48.600i talked to a company taka that had talked about wanting to do an ai data center they were going
00:22:53.080to build their own natural gas power but they told me because of the clean electricity regs
00:22:57.240which meant they'd have to turn it off in 2035 they didn't even get started and i have to wonder
00:23:01.880how many other projects of that nature didn't even get started because of the clean electricity rig
00:23:06.840So now that there's an immediate suspension of that, there will, of course, be pending our agreement on what the tier pricing will be.
00:23:16.120But there has always been a carbon price on heavy emitters, and that included in the electricity sector.
00:23:23.960So I think we'll be able to give that injection of confidence.
00:23:27.480I guess we'll know in the coming weeks and months.
00:23:30.380Thank you. We have time for two more questions.
00:23:32.120We're going to go to the phones for one and then come back to the room for our last one.
00:23:35.000operator, could you put through our first caller, please?
00:23:38.400Your first caller comes from the line of
00:24:53.660All of those things will continue to go.
00:24:56.040And what we're very hopeful is that as we stagegate the development of a bitumen pipeline,
00:25:00.560we'll also do the same thing with the Pathways Project.
00:25:03.020And then we'll be able to have the largest carbon capture project in the world, which I think will also be another major export opportunity for us.
00:25:09.940So I would say that we showed our commitment when we released our energy development and emissions reduction plan in April of 2023.
00:25:19.000And most of the elements that we announced then, you'll see, are enshrined in this agreement that we have today.
00:25:24.920And then the coastal First Nations especially but certainly BC as well have said they so far
00:25:35.620publicly they said they really don't support this pipeline. It seems like the MOU puts bringing
00:25:41.060those people on side in your court. Can you expand upon how you intend to do that and how you
00:27:11.560and then let's work through the areas of disagreement.
00:27:13.760But I think that we will find over time that there are many nations who are also interested in these kinds of projects so they can bring prosperity to their people.
00:27:23.420And that's our starting point on this.