OTTAWA – Standing in his office Friday morning, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told Prime Minister Mark Carney that Canadians in her province, and industry stakeholders, are “getting a bit impatient” when it comes to plans to get major projects moving.
Speaking about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) – the energy co-operation pact outlining conditions for a new oil pipeline connecting Alberta to the Pacific Coast to proceed – Smith said the two parties have “had some really constructive conversations.”
But now, she has told Carney that “if we’re going to move forward with that MOU, I hope it happens in the next number of days.”
But there is hope allegedly …
Ottawa suggests letting cabinet green-light pipelines before technical assessments happen
The federal government is proposing reversing the order of pipeline approvals, allowing cabinet to green-light a new project prior to the completion of technical assessments and approvals.
The proposed changes come less than two months before Alberta is expected to submit a proposal for a new pipeline to the west coast.
The idea of switching the order of the approval process by giving it first to cabinet and then to the civil service for a technical review is included in a sweeping set of proposals released by Ottawa on Friday.
