Western Standard - Alberta’s Danielle Smith address on federal-provincial energy deal

00:00:00.000 Good morning everyone. I hope you enjoyed hearing the comments of the Prime Minister this morning.

00:00:04.480 I was pleased he was able to pop up and see you before going on to some of his other meetings

00:00:08.780 today as well as a speech at the chamber. I'm so delighted to be here with not only members of my

00:00:16.140 cabinet but also our partners in Indigenous communities. We've got Rebecca Schultz, Minister

00:00:21.340 of Environment and Protected Areas, Raj Ansani, Minister of Indigenous Relations, Jason Nixon,

00:00:25.500 Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services. He was part of our negotiating team.

00:00:30.320 Nathan Neudorf, Minister of Affordability and Utilities.

00:00:32.580 Minister of Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals.

00:00:36.240 And then, of course, we have Billy Morin, former chief, but he's now MP for Edmonton Northwest.

00:00:41.620 Former Chief Jim Boucher of the Mackay First Nation.

00:00:45.080 Chris Sankey, former councillor of Laxcolam Band in British Columbia.

00:00:50.440 Dave Lamouche, President of Métis Settlements General Council.

00:00:53.320 Chief George Arcand Jr. of Alexander First Nation, Chief Tony Alexis of Alexander Nakodosu Nation,

00:00:59.860 Chief Cody Thomas of Enoch Cree Nation, Chief Kelsey Jacko of Cold Lake First Nations.

00:01:05.640 We also have a friend visiting from Saskatchewan, Chief Delbert Wapas of Thunderchild First Nation,

00:01:12.960 and of course Stephen Buffalo, President and CEO of the Indian Resource Council.

00:01:16.260 We 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

00:01:22.460 where I'm going to to go for a lunch speech. But today is a great day for the people of Alberta

00:01:28.920 and for all of Canada. The last 10 years have been an extremely difficult time for hundreds of

00:01:33.820 thousands of Albertans and their families that directly or indirectly rely on and make their

00:01:38.940 living from a strong and vibrant and growing Alberta oil and gas sector. These Albertans

00:01:43.940 are mothers and fathers and young people working so hard to put food on the table,

00:01:47.820 to pay for hockey and soccer fees and to save for the down payment on their first home.

00:01:53.260 These are also small business owners that too often have found themselves as well in their business

00:01:59.380 working very hard to build due to a regulatory environment that has made it almost impossible for them to succeed.

00:02:07.660 And more broadly, the last 10 years have left hundreds of thousands of Albertans skeptical

00:02:11.760 and oftentimes questioning the long-term viability of our nation

00:02:15.860 as we watched its deliberate phase out of our province's most valuable asset leaving it trapped

00:02:21.620 and wasted in the vast oil sands of northern Alberta and with it innumerable lost investment

00:02:27.840 opportunities and tens of thousands of lost jobs. These were dark times but in those difficult

00:02:33.120 circumstances Albertans came together as we always do to raise our voices and use our ingenuity to

00:02:38.980 find a way to overcome the challenge. We fought and won in the courts of law. We fought and won

00:02:43.700 in the court of public opinion and we fought because we had to because that's what albertans 0.99

00:02:47.700 do we always fight for the very hard for this province that we love so dearly and for its

00:02:52.580 incredible people but albertans are also proud and loyal canadians we don't fight for the sake

00:02:58.020 of fighting we don't look for conflict when there's an opportunity for peace and prosperity

00:03:03.220 albertans are happiest when we are hard at work getting things done solving problems creating

00:03:08.260 opportunities building our province and our country that is when we are truly at our best

00:03:13.620 however in order for alberta to find its way to prosperity within a united canada we need the

00:03:18.980 federal government to partner with us instead of fighting against us now prime minister mark

00:03:25.380 carney and i may not always agree on everything but we do share a few key beliefs we both know

00:03:31.780 that canada can never reach its true potential as a global energy superpower without a strong

00:03:37.300 and thriving alberta energy sector at the center of that effort and i am pleased to say that this

00:03:42.500 prime minister has made it clear to me that he is willing to work with me and alberta's government

00:03:47.620 to accomplish that shared goal and that my friends is something that we have not seen

00:03:52.580 from a canadian prime minister in over a decade and it is my firm belief that albertans from

00:03:58.580 right across the political spectrum whether they be staunch federal conservatives or liberals or

00:04:04.020 or New Democrats or something else, they expect me, as their premier, to partner with this

00:04:09.300 federal government to seize this long-awaited opportunity for our province.

00:04:13.920 I've spoken at length about the need to build more pipeline infrastructure, to export more

00:04:19.600 oil to hungry Asian markets, and to diversify our customer base.

00:04:23.580 I have repeatedly stated how critical it is to reform a broken regulatory environment

00:04:28.820 that is scaring away investment and demoralizing our energy entrepreneurs here at home.

00:04:34.020 And I have asked repeatedly for the federal government to cease their attempts to throttle our energy industry,

00:04:40.000 repeal or overhaul their nine bad laws,

00:04:42.340 and work with Alberta to grow our energy sector for the benefit of the entire country.

00:04:47.880 And today's agreement is the first step in accomplishing all of these critical objectives

00:04:52.480 and unleashing the power and promise of Alberta's energy sector in a way never seen before in this country.

00:05:04.020 This agreement means the end of the punitive oil and gas emissions cap so that our great

00:05:13.020 energy producers can grow and thrive again.

00:05:15.900 This agreement means the immediate suspension of the federal net zero power regulations

00:05:20.380 in Alberta, which had placed our electrical grid at a very serious risk of failure and

00:05:26.260 limited any hope of substantial investment in AI data centers and applications development.

00:05:32.020 This agreement includes a clear path to the construction of an over one million barrel

00:05:36.880 per day indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline to Asian markets so that our province and

00:05:42.580 our country are no longer dependent on just one customer to buy our most valuable resource.

00:05:47.740 This agreement also allows for needed adjustments to the tanker ban when the new pipeline to

00:05:52.580 Asia is approved by the Major Projects Office, as well as amendments that will ensure our

00:05:57.560 companies are able to advertise their environmental leadership and efforts

00:06:01.820 throughout the world without a fear of penalty and this agreement also means

00:06:06.020 that Alberta will be a world leader in the development and implementation of

00:06:10.280 emissions reduction infrastructure particularly in carbon capture

00:06:14.540 utilization and storage Alberta has a unique opportunity to show the entire

00:06:18.560 world that the solution for reducing emissions does not entail capping

00:06:23.060 productivity growth or innovation in oil and gas development rather it is

00:06:27.500 to leverage the profitability of the oil and gas sector to invest in the very technologies

00:06:32.940 that will revolutionize all industries in their effort to reduce emissions globally

00:06:38.460 this agreement means alberta will work with our federal partners and the pathways companies to

00:06:43.260 commence and complete the world's largest carbon capture utilization and storage infrastructure

00:06:48.540 project it will also make alberta heavy oil the lowest intensity barrel on the market

00:06:54.380 and displace millions of barrels of heavier emitting fuels around the globe this is alberta's

00:06:59.340 moment of opportunity our opportunity to show the nation as well as the entire world that resource

00:07:04.780 development and emissions reduction can not only coexist but can actually complement one another

00:07:10.300 for the benefit of billions of people around the world alberta is willing to take on and conquer

00:07:15.260 the challenge as partners with the federal government now i need to be clear the government

00:07:20.300 is just this agreement with the government is just the first step in this journey there is much more

00:07:26.140 hard work to be done trust must be built and earned in the partnership as we move through the

00:07:31.020 next steps of this process whether that be working with the federal government to prepare our bitumen

00:07:35.980 pipeline submission for the major projects office or putting together the final elements of a carbon

00:07:41.660 pricing agreement that will be implemented through the province's tier program that balances

00:07:46.780 competitiveness with accountability for heavy emitters and although i am not blind to the fact

00:07:51.580 that the people of alberta have had the rug pulled out from underneath them too many times to count

00:07:56.060 over the past 10 years i also know that a new relationship and a new beginning needs a starting

00:08:01.500 point grounded in good faith and today i hope is that new starting point so i do want to thank the

00:08:08.780 the Prime Minister so I do want to thank the Prime Minister as well as his team

00:08:21.800 for working with my team to get this agreement to the finish line I'd also

00:08:25.300 like to thank our negotiating team and that included ministers Jason Nixon and

00:08:29.540 Rajan Sani along with my chief of staff Rob Anderson and deputy ministers Liam

00:08:34.580 Stone and Larry Kohlmeyer for the great work that they did on this initiative and I'm excited as is my government and our UCP

00:08:41.080 MLA'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

00:08:50.080 thank you

00:09:04.420 thanks so much

00:09:08.720 now i think sam black is somewhere moderating questions oh yes we'll now start the media q a

00:09:15.860 we are tight in time today we'll be taking one question one follow-up per usual please state

00:09:19.560 your name and outlet before asking your question and we'll start off at our mic

00:09:22.200 in the room go ahead all right Heather your ex West from Global National thanks

00:09:26.120 for taking my question what is your view premier of the power of BC or a first

00:09:30.800 nation to veto a potential pipeline deal the MOU talks a lot about consultation

00:09:34.620 but what happens if an agreement can't be reached well as you can see the MOU

00:09:38.160 does not contain a veto but I think that we both recognize jointly that there is

00:09:43.740 a requirement for consultation and indeed we believe that there's an

00:09:48.600 imperative for Indigenous ownership. We created the Alberta Indigenous 0.95

00:09:52.780 Opportunities Corporation and it expanded its ability to underwrite up to

00:09:56.720 three billion dollars worth of loan guarantees. I see British Columbia also

00:10:00.720 has a similar program. The federal government has a similar program and so

00:10:04.420 Minister Sawney has already begun the engagement. She's been to Kitimat, she's

00:10:08.700 been to Prince Rupert, she's been talking with with the BC and Alberta

00:10:12.420 nations and we know that that's hard work that needs to be done that we will

00:10:16.380 do we intend to do and we're looking forward to having genuine consultation and ownership and

00:10:22.460 as for premier ibi i spoke with him last night and there's lots of the agreement that we can focus on

00:10:28.620 together where he is supportive of the expansion of the trans mountain pipeline capacity he is

00:10:34.860 supportive of intratize and working with us on nuclear he's supportive of working with us on

00:10:39.660 expanding additional lng export as well as ammonia so may not be in agreement with everything that

00:10:46.140 is in that is in this proposal but we're going to have trilateral talks to to make sure that we can

00:10:50.780 move forward on on uh the elements in this plan and my follow-up do you think this mou will be

00:10:56.060 enough to to distinguish any remaining um separatist sentiment that may remain in alberta

00:11:01.660 i hope so i mean i i had always felt that the the former government of justin trudeau created

00:11:08.140 the independence movement and my my first conversations with with prime minister mark

00:11:12.940 Carney were that he could end it. He could take the wind out of it. Because we saw this once

00:11:17.580 before. We saw that independence sentiment was very high in the early 1980s when there was the

00:11:22.420 national energy program. But when Brian Mulroney came in and reversed that policy, it disappeared.

00:11:28.020 So I would say that good policy and genuinely addressing the concerns of Albertans is always

00:11:35.500 a pathway to have a good and solid relationship. And I think the prime minister understands that

00:11:39.920 And certainly, based on this agreement, it shows he does, and so I'm hopeful.

00:11:43.580 Thanks.

00:11:45.880 Hi, Premier. Ezra Levant from Rebel News.

00:11:50.380 The first deadline in the MOU, if I'm reading it right, is April, where the duty is on Alberta to jack up carbon taxes.

00:12:01.660 And the last date in the MOU, if I'm reading it right, correct me if I'm not, is 2040.

00:12:07.140 that's when this pipeline you know that's sort of the end date it can't be any later than that

00:12:12.480 in terms of building trust with the anti-oil liberals they're asking Alberta to raise carbon

00:12:20.140 taxes now for a promise of an oil pipeline years or even more than a decade in the future

00:12:26.020 does that really build trust well you have to start somewhere and one thing I would say

00:12:32.720 is that we did have the Supreme Court of Canada rule on the federal government's ability to set

00:12:39.380 a price on emissions. So the Supreme Court has ruled on that. It's part of the reason why we

00:12:44.680 negotiated a stringency agreement that would have seen the carbon tax price go up to $170 a barrel

00:12:51.480 by 2030. We've demonstrated, and I think the Prime Minister agrees, that's too high too fast.

00:12:58.160 So that's why we understand that there was always going to be a negotiation around that.

00:13:03.840 We froze the carbon tax at $95, pending consultation with the industry and greater work with the Prime Minister.

00:13:10.080 But remember, Alberta was the first to have an industrial carbon price.

00:13:13.580 We implemented that in 2007.

00:13:16.780 It's generated revenues that have allowed us to invest billions of dollars in new technologies, including carbon capture.

00:13:22.680 So there is a commitment on the part of the industry to have a carbon price.

00:13:26.320 and we did do some consultation on that.

00:13:28.800 We're just glad that we have the means to manage it our way in Alberta under our tier program,

00:13:34.600 and we'll see as of April 1st, and no, that wasn't a joke.

00:13:38.660 April 1st is going to be the date that we have an agreement on that front.

00:13:44.480 When it comes to the building of a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets to the BC coast,

00:13:50.780 if you read the MOU, those two things have to happen in tandem,

00:13:53.700 that we have to see the Pathways project proceeding at the same time as an agreement to build that.

00:13:59.300 One is dependent on the other.

00:14:01.220 I don't know that the Prime Minister would have agreed to a new bitumen pipeline without Pathways,

00:14:04.860 and we wouldn't have agreed to Pathways without a new bitumen pipeline.

00:14:07.540 So they are going to be staged.

00:14:09.740 They are going to go on together.

00:14:11.400 We've already had a meeting with Pathways about how we're going to do that.

00:14:14.740 That will require a trilateral negotiation as well.

00:14:18.280 But I'm very hopeful.

00:14:19.920 Since 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.

00:14:31.920 so I would say that you don't always get a hundred percent of what you want but we addressed seven

00:14:42.600 out of the nine bad laws that I'd put on the table to I think the what will be the satisfaction of

00:14:47.340 Albertans and I think that this will allow us to see some substantial investments I mean that's

00:14:53.340 the thing about a peace deal you have to make it with an enemy so I suppose the fact that for a

00:14:58.200 decade his glasgow financial alliance for net zero it was about putting a capital strike on

00:15:05.240 the oil and gas sector just a couple weeks ago he was asked about pipelines and he said boring

00:15:12.040 so is there anything i mean after a lifetime of attacking the oil patch he was even interrogated

00:15:19.560 by the u.s congress for an attempt to to capital strike their oil companies is there anything the

00:15:25.880 the Prime Minister has said to you in private that you could share with us that would signal

00:15:32.440 that his lifetime's work of attacking carbon-based fuels will somehow be put to the side? Like, I

00:15:40.820 think he's just a slightly smarter version of Stephen Gilbeau. I think he hates the oil patch

00:15:46.360 as his life's work. Is there anything he's said to you that make you believe that maybe he has,

00:15:53.800 he can be turned on this?

00:15:56.480 Well, I'll start by saying my joke has been that I would love for pipelines to be boring again.

00:16:01.320 I would love for no matter what party is in power, what level of government,

00:16:06.200 that there wasn't sort of an overwrought response anytime anyone talked about building a pipeline.

00:16:12.080 It's actually quite remarkable that we're talking about expanding uranium mines,

00:16:16.640 building nuclear power plants, building new transmission lines through pristine areas,

00:16:21.140 massive new mining projects and not one of them has raised any ire on the part of

00:16:26.540 any environmental group or anyone in the media but it but there has been all of

00:16:31.460 this ire raised around a pipeline so I hope that we can make pipelines boring

00:16:35.120 again because it's just a way to get our product to the the the consumers who

00:16:40.460 need it I would seem that as you know I was not a huge champion of carbon

00:16:47.380 capture technology when i was in politics the first time i wasn't but i've seen with the passage

00:16:52.220 of time the investments being made and the fact that the technology works and we're getting better

00:16:56.220 and better at it and you can create a product out of it uh including so that you can enhance oil

00:17:01.280 recovery i changed my mind and and so i would say that the prime minister maybe uh in the past 10

00:17:07.200 years it looked like wind and solar and batteries were going to be the ability to to power industrial

00:17:11.940 economies i think the world discovered that's not true with the russian invasion of ukraine with

00:17:16.520 instability in the middle east everyone is having to recalibrate and rethink that um i was recently

00:17:22.200 in the middle east and the conversation around the table now is talking about natural gas as a

00:17:26.440 foundational fuel not a transition fuel so i think that demonstrates that there is a global

00:17:31.800 understanding of how important it is to have reliable electricity and so i'm i have to uh

00:17:38.680 just give the the prime minister credit for perhaps he's um recalibrating his own thinking

00:17:43.880 on this it certainly seems to be in the agreement that we signed but we will trust but we will

00:17:48.920 verify we will make sure that he lives up to the the commitments in this agreement that we had

00:17:55.000 and we have to proceed somewhere with a measure of good faith i can tell you 100 that the former

00:18:00.520 prime minister would would never have moved this far on these issues we tried for three years we

00:18:05.320 got nowhere and my in my very first meeting with the prime minister i said to him you know the way

00:18:11.560 that we can get to an agreement is just orienting around the 2050 target our

00:18:16.180 industry is there we think it's achievable with technology and you'll

00:18:19.540 see in the context of this MOU that the interim targets are gone and so that's

00:18:25.000 what that's what I that's what we're going to move forward on and we'll see

00:18:28.720 as we meet meet these milestones whether I'm correct or whether your

00:18:33.080 skepticism is correct thanks we're gonna take one more from the room then take

00:18:38.140 one or two from the phones before coming back to the room go ahead hi

00:18:40.940 Hi, Premier. Laura Osmond with The Logic. 0.99

00:18:43.400 When it comes to trying to find a proponent for this pipeline,

00:18:46.880 is this MOU enough to start bringing private investment on board?

00:18:51.960 Or in your conversations with potential proponents,

00:18:54.540 are they looking to get farther down the line?

00:18:56.040 At what point do you think you might be able to announce

00:18:58.640 some kind of proponent taking over?

00:19:01.060 Well, I think that the fact that this room filled up with, I think,

00:19:04.220 24 hours notice gives you an idea of the enthusiasm that we have in the sectors

00:19:08.840 that make billion-dollar investment decisions.

00:19:11.840 And many of the people in this room have been holding on to capital

00:19:15.140 or redeploying it elsewhere.

00:19:16.480 So I think that's going to cause a lot of really interesting conversations

00:19:19.720 now that they've seen the structure of this agreement.

00:19:21.860 We'll know in the coming weeks and months, generally speaking,

00:19:25.400 about final investment decisions.

00:19:27.540 But I've been encouraged to see that even with the announcement in the budget

00:19:31.620 that they were looking at not implementing the emissions cap,

00:19:34.800 which we can confirm today,

00:19:36.400 You've seen Enbridge talk about 400,000 barrels a day on their main line that they want to expand.

00:19:41.400 TMX has talked about an additional 400,000 barrels per day that they want to optimize.

00:19:46.400 Southbow using the old Keystone assets have talked about a 650,000 barrel a day project.

00:19:52.400 I've been in touch, the folks from the St. Lawrence Seaway Group have been in touch with me saying,

00:19:56.400 can we get oil to Thunder Bay so that we can get it out on tankers to markets in Europe.

00:20:04.400 We have oil-by-rail projects being talked about going all the way to Nova Scotia and being exported out of Sydney.

00:20:11.200 I'm watching with great interest as Manitoba Premier Wab Kanu negotiates an economic corridor co-owned with First Nations.

00:20:18.820 And whether there's an opportunity for us to also be able to have a pipeline go there and also reach European markets.

00:20:27.300 Doug Ford and I signed an MOU about perhaps having a spur line going to James Bay with a similar kind of model.

00:20:32.180 So 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.

00:20:41.740 And 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.

00:20:50.480 So 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.

00:21:07.900 And in the end, you'll see the MOU says that we want a private proponent to build that.

00:21:12.920 i don't think it would be success if we have to have the federal government once again

00:21:17.080 have to pay for an overpriced uh expensive pipeline i think we want to create the condition

00:21:22.840 so that the private sector has confidence and we'll build it so that's what we're working towards

00:21:26.440 we knew we needed to get through these first few phases but i'm pretty confident with the people

00:21:30.600 we have at the table that one or a consortium of them once we establish that it is on the major

00:21:36.600 projects list we'll be willing to take this on you have mentioned that it's a long road you still

00:21:41.080 to build trust you've had the rug pulled out from you before pipeline aside is the changes to the

00:21:47.240 emissions cap and the clean energy regulations enough do you think to increase oil production

00:21:52.760 in alberta and improve the investment environment here i think almost certainly the the problem with

00:21:58.200 the emissions cap is that especially with the interim targets of 2030 and 2035 the only way to

00:22:03.880 achieve that because we wouldn't have been able to build the carbon capture utilization and storage

00:22:08.200 or the fuel the fuel variety like nuclear or do or have advanced direct air capture the only way

00:22:16.600 to achieve them would be to shut in production it wasn't just us saying that there's several

00:22:21.000 different reports that went out saying as much as two million barrels a day would have to be

00:22:25.000 shut in by 2035 so we now have a longer time horizon to address the issues of emissions we've

00:22:32.120 big changes that we're going to have a look at heavy oil on the basis of emissions

00:22:37.800 intensity compared to other heavy heavy barrels around the world that is also i think going to

00:22:42.840 be a major confidence booster and then on the other side when i was recently in the middle east

00:22:48.600 i talked to a company taka that had talked about wanting to do an ai data center they were going

00:22:53.080 to build their own natural gas power but they told me because of the clean electricity regs

00:22:57.240 which meant they'd have to turn it off in 2035 they didn't even get started and i have to wonder

00:23:01.880 how many other projects of that nature didn't even get started because of the clean electricity rig

00:23:06.840 So now that there's an immediate suspension of that, there will, of course, be pending our agreement on what the tier pricing will be.

00:23:16.120 But there has always been a carbon price on heavy emitters, and that included in the electricity sector.

00:23:23.960 So I think we'll be able to give that injection of confidence.

00:23:27.480 I guess we'll know in the coming weeks and months.

00:23:30.380 Thank you. We have time for two more questions.

00:23:32.120 We're going to go to the phones for one and then come back to the room for our last one.

00:23:35.000 operator, could you put through our first caller, please?

00:23:38.400 Your first caller comes from the line of

00:23:40.480 Friday and humility from the start.

00:23:42.280 Your line is now open.

00:23:43.100 Yeah, good afternoon,

00:23:46.080 Premier, thanks for taking the question.

00:23:47.380 You know,

00:23:49.320 the MOU sets out obligations

00:23:51.420 on both Alberta and the government.

00:23:52.920 If the government of Canada

00:23:54.660 lives up to its obligations

00:23:56.680 but a private proponent

00:23:59.260 doesn't emerge

00:24:00.560 for the bitumen pipeline,

00:24:02.560 is Alberta still committed

00:24:05.000 to increasing its carbon price

00:24:08.540 and the other commitments that you've made on

00:24:11.100 pathways and other projects?

00:24:13.440 As I said, we have always had a carbon price.

00:24:16.380 We were the first to put one in place in 2007.

00:24:19.020 We have just recently made changes to tier

00:24:21.320 to allow those revenues to be recycled back

00:24:24.080 to companies so that they can invest

00:24:26.160 in carbon capture technology.

00:24:28.560 We have put in place our ACIP program,

00:24:30.920 which is our carbon capture incentive program

00:24:33.020 where we rebate 12% of the cost of any investment in carbon capture.

00:24:37.500 We've got a major centre in central Alberta

00:24:39.580 where 10 different direct air capture projects are underway.

00:24:43.720 We have signed agreements, not only with the federal government,

00:24:47.300 but with our fellow premiers on looking at how we would add nuclear to the grid.

00:24:51.720 So all of those things are underway.

00:24:53.660 All of those things will continue to go.

00:24:56.040 And what we're very hopeful is that as we stagegate the development of a bitumen pipeline,

00:25:00.560 we'll also do the same thing with the Pathways Project.

00:25:03.020 And 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.

00:25:09.940 So I would say that we showed our commitment when we released our energy development and emissions reduction plan in April of 2023.

00:25:19.000 And most of the elements that we announced then, you'll see, are enshrined in this agreement that we have today.

00:25:24.920 And then the coastal First Nations especially but certainly BC as well have said they so far

00:25:35.620 publicly they said they really don't support this pipeline. It seems like the MOU puts bringing

00:25:41.060 those people on side in your court. Can you expand upon how you intend to do that and how you

00:25:49.000 intend to see that that happens?

00:25:51.400 Well, I can tell you

00:25:52.860 that there are some leadership

00:25:55.100 in some nations that have been

00:25:57.120 vocal, absolutely. But as you can see,

00:25:59.080 there are some leaders of some nations

00:26:00.980 that are in this room supportive as well.

00:26:03.240 And that's the nuance that happens.

00:26:05.300 That will be, no matter whether it's a nation 0.89

00:26:06.960 or whether it's a province or

00:26:08.980 whether it's a political party, there's just different

00:26:10.800 opinions on things. But what

00:26:12.940 this agreement shows is that we're going

00:26:14.980 to work collaboratively to work towards

00:26:16.820 a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets on the west coast and when we arrive at a port that we'll

00:26:23.440 also have a tanker band carve out for that. So I would say that my Indigenous Relations Minister

00:26:29.140 is doing tremendous work on doing the initial engagement which will ultimately lead to a more

00:26:34.660 formal consultation process. We're beginning with a spirit of goodwill having had some success with

00:26:40.040 our AIOC. I think that demonstrates credibility in having a meaningful equity ownership stake

00:26:45.440 And we've had very constructive meetings.

00:26:48.600 I had a very constructive meeting, you may have read,

00:26:50.580 with the Heisla chief and council and others yesterday,

00:26:54.220 where they may not be 100% behind a bitumen pipeline,

00:26:58.680 but they're excited about LNG export.

00:27:01.780 They wanted us to make sure that we knew that Kitimat

00:27:04.800 is a thriving port for all kinds of commodities.

00:27:07.860 And so I think that that's where the relationship begins.

00:27:09.940 Let's talk about areas of agreement,

00:27:11.560 and then let's work through the areas of disagreement.

00:27:13.760 But 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.

00:27:23.420 And that's our starting point on this.

00:27:26.580 Thank you.

00:27:27.440 And if you're really quick, Premier, we might be able to squeeze in two more.

00:27:30.540 And we'll go to our next to the mic.

00:27:32.780 Sheila Gunn-Reed with Rebel News.

00:27:34.640 Just staying on the topic of British Columbia, the Prime Minister has said in the House of Commons just two days ago,

00:27:41.180 we believe the government of british columbia has to agree now just now after he left the signing

00:27:47.820 with you his press release says these projects will only be built in consultation and partnership

00:27:54.120 with indigenous rights holders and british columbia so what is the real strength of this

00:27:59.740 mou when you have a partner who keeps giving veto to british columbia well you'll you'll see in the

00:28:06.840 agreement, there's no mention of veto. I think that there obviously has to be trilateral

00:28:12.220 discussions with British Columbia to find areas of common ground, and I think we will.

00:28:16.600 And there's also clearly going to have to be a formal consultation process with indigenous

00:28:21.820 bands, and we're prepared to do all of that. What I have seen is that there have been a

00:28:29.840 number of projects in British Columbia that may have started off with a lot of opposition

00:28:35.320 that over time got a lot of enthusiasm.

00:28:37.640 Look at all of the LNG projects down the coast.

00:28:39.780 Look at Coastal Gas Link.

00:28:41.300 Look at the opportunity now for additional LNG projects.

00:28:44.560 Look at even the Premier of British Columbia

00:28:49.520 talking about expanding TMX.

00:28:51.040 That was not the conversation that was happening

00:28:53.440 five or six years ago.

00:28:54.520 So I would say that some of it is in the proving.

00:28:57.520 You have to prove that you're listening,

00:28:59.560 prove that you are being genuine in the consultation,

00:29:02.420 genuine in addressing the environmental

00:29:04.840 other issues that are raised and that's what we intend to do we intend to be involved every step

00:29:09.000 of the way to make sure that we're able to to bring people on board with this but it's a process

00:29:13.880 we know it this is the first stage of it but having the the prime minister um agree in principle that

00:29:20.200 getting a million additional barrels to asian markets is a good thing for us and for canada

00:29:24.840 i think that's a major milestone now british columbia however says that they're blindsided

00:29:30.440 they say they're considering a lawsuit which could tie up any potential private sector proposal for

00:29:37.160 years it might even act as a deterrent to a private sector pipeline proposal has the prime minister

00:29:43.240 given you any assurances that he would use constitutional means like the notwithstanding

00:29:47.960 clause to prevent a proposed project from getting bogged down in a legal quagmire for years well i

00:29:55.800 don't think he needs to use the notwithstanding clause because this is federal jurisdiction

00:29:59.320 trans border pipelines trans border infrastructure ports those are those are all federal jurisdiction

00:30:07.160 and i think that british columbia has tried to use every tool in the toolbox i guess was the

00:30:12.220 term that they used before and failed they it was clearly affirmed by the courts that this is not

00:30:17.100 british columbia's decision to make that being said we we understand that there's a process we

00:30:23.000 have to go through we understand that indigenous partnership is key to that and so we are wanting

00:30:28.460 to get the project to a point where it's on the major projects list at which point there's a two

00:30:33.940 year window to get to approval so we've got our work to do over the next number of months but

00:30:39.520 that's the commitment on the part of the federal government is that once something is on the major

00:30:42.780 projects list it will have a new approach so that it can be approved in two years and again trust

00:30:48.640 but verify we're going to hold them to that thank you and yes we have time for one last question

00:30:53.320 just keep it quick please and thank you uh premier matt skates with the global mail um this mo you

00:30:57.720 talks about working collaboratively with uh companies to get ccus built um how are you

00:31:03.240 going to bring those three parties together government uh ccus companies and obviously

00:31:07.720 there's a carbon cash incentive right now to support the project to the 12 are you going to

00:31:11.480 change that formula at all we so a couple of things we have already demonstrated how we're

00:31:16.920 going to support the project on our end the 12 rebate on capital costs that's our our investment

00:31:22.360 tax credit but the recycling of the tier revenues that's really significant because the pipeline

00:31:28.040 companies in pathways or pardon me the production companies in pathways group they already pay i

00:31:33.480 think three to four hundred million dollars in um in in uh in carbon tax fees through the industrial

00:31:42.120 carbon tax having them be able to recycle those back to dedicate to this kind of project that's

00:31:47.880 our commitment so that is that was a change that we made on consultation with the industry the

00:31:53.720 the remaining is going to be coming from the federal government they've got a 50 itc and the

00:32:00.920 the main thing that we we were able to agree to with ottawa is if you're going to have a project

00:32:07.000 that is going to cost substantial dollars you need to have a new revenue stream to pay for it

00:32:11.960 So if in the end the Pathways projects cost 10 to 20 billion dollars but they're also earning 20

00:32:19.640 billion a year for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years, that becomes a more viable project for those

00:32:26.520 companies. If it's just a cost on them with no additional hope of revenue, that was what they

00:32:31.320 were facing. Now that we can see these two things go together, I'm pretty confident we'll come up

00:32:35.560 with a trilateral agreement where the federal government will take apart, we'll obviously allow

00:32:40.280 the pipeline companies or the production companies to keep more of what they earn and then they will

00:32:46.560 also put forward a portion of the cost. This also comes with complete carve-out for Alberta on the

00:32:53.760 clean energy regs, removing greenwashing provisions. Do you feel like Alberta is a winner in these

00:33:00.060 negotiations? Well, I can tell you I had a pretty happy caucus when we talked about it yesterday.

00:33:05.400 So I would say that we put on the table what it is that we wanted to achieve.

00:33:10.560 And I talked about the nine bad laws.

00:33:14.740 And let me just go through them so that you know why it is we're feeling like this is a win for Alberta.

00:33:20.800 First of all, one of the things I wanted was no export taxes or restrictions on Alberta oil and gas.

00:33:25.980 Well, we got that.

00:33:28.080 A complete redo of C-69.

00:33:30.280 Well, not only are we going to get that through the major projects office,

00:33:32.460 but we have an agreement that intra-provincial projects are going to be approved by us,

00:33:36.360 and there's going to be a rewrite of that bill.

00:33:38.920 Emissions cap, gone.

00:33:40.560 Carbon pricing stays provincial, we've got that.

00:33:43.180 The clean electricity regulation scrap, we got that.

00:33:46.560 Tanker ban car vote, we got that.

00:33:48.920 The censorship of energy, we got that.

00:33:50.820 That's seven out of nine.

00:33:51.780 That's not so bad.

00:33:53.360 We're going to win them in court on the declaration of plastics is toxic.

00:33:57.380 We already won round one, so we're going to keep on going so that we win that one too.

00:34:02.460 and they have realized that their net zero cars are not going to work.

00:34:06.040 They've already done a one-year reprieve on that,

00:34:08.200 and I suspect that's going to also have to be significantly modified or gone.

00:34:12.940 So, as you can see, these are the things I've put on the table and have for years,

00:34:18.400 and we finally have a partner in Ottawa that has recognized that the policies are unworkable,

00:34:24.520 impractical, damaging to Canada, damaging to Alberta.

00:34:27.400 I think this agreement is the the first step and being able to correct ten bad laws or ten nine bad laws over ten

00:34:34.440 I think years where where our economy was depressed and

00:34:38.900 It allows for us to make sure that we don't have a repeat over the next ten years. Thank you

00:34:43.520 And that'll conclude today's press conference. Thank you. Thanks

00:34:57.400 Thank you.

Western Standard - November 27, 2025

Alberta’s Danielle Smith address on federal-provincial energy deal

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript