'Grand bargain': Alberta Premier Danielle Smith 'encouraged' by federal government's change of tone when it comes to energy
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is 'encouraged' by the federal government's change of tone when discussing energy following Monday's meeting with fellow premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Carney and Canada's 13 premiers gathered in Saskatoon on Monday to discuss the federal government's commitment to fast-tracking 'nation building' projects and breaking down internal trade barriers. He said there is 'real potential' for an 'oil pipeline to get to tidewater.'
'Within the broader context of national interest, the interest is in decarbonized barrels. It provides the development of new industries, it provides economic activity across the West and into the North. There's real potential there,' Carney said.
'We took up a good deal of our time and discussions and potential to move forward on that and, if further developed, the federal government will look to advance.'
Smith has been vocal about her list of energy reform demands she wants Carney to address, including repealing Bill C-69 and lifting the emissions cap and said discussions will continue on that front.
'Let's call it the grand bargain,' Smith said in response to a question about pipelines.
'I think the point I was making to the prime minister and my colleagues is that there's lots of ways to decarbonize, but the Pathways Project is an expensive project. It would cost anywhere from $10 billion to $20 billion to get built and to make the economic case for that, having more egress with more barrels to be sold to Asia is the way to pay for it.'
She said Carney's readiness to do a 'two-track process' to identify projects and eliminate barriers that are currently in place is also encouraging, pointing to ways of fixing the regulatory processes to make it easier to approve projects moving forward.
'I'm encouraged by the immediate change of tone that we've seen from recent months. I think that there's when we hear the prime minister talking about being an energy superpower. We haven't heard that kind of language for some time on both the conventional and clean power.'
At the meeting Carney said leaders discussed a wide range of projects including the Western and Arctic corridor which connects energy critical minerals and trade infrastructure, the Eastern energy partnership and critical minerals pathways.
Carney said a number of projects were discussed on Monday and are in various stages and will not all come at the same time.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this was 'the best meeting' they've had in 10 years and now it's time to put the talking into action.
'I thought it was an incredible meeting, great communication, great collaboration, and we all walked out of that room united, and that's the most important thing. Now, the prime minister is going to go to work, get the legislation passed, and we'll divvy it up,' Ford said.
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Premier Danielle Smith says Tuesday's throne speech falls short for Alberta when it comes to meeting energy reform demands
Bell: Danielle Smith warns Carney — 'stop foot-dragging' and kill anti-oil policies
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'We are proposing … a ceasefire before a leaders' summit,' with the U.S. acting as a mediator, Zelenskyy told a media briefing in Kyiv. Advertisement 'Why a ceasefire before the leaders' meeting? Because if we meet and there is no mutual understanding, no willingness or vision on how to end this, then the ceasefire would end that same day. But if we see readiness to continue the dialogue and take real steps toward de-escalation, then the ceasefire would be extended with U.S. mediation guarantees,' he said. Ukraine is ready to meet at any time from next Monday at a venue such as Istanbul, the Vatican or Switzerland, Zelenskyy said. U.S. defense secretary stays away A second round of peace talks on Monday between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul lasted just over an hour and made no progress on ending the war. They agreed only to swap thousands of their dead and seriously wounded troops. Also, a new prisoner exchange with Russia could take place over the weekend, Zelenskyy said. The U.S. has shown signs of distancing itself from the conflict. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth skipped a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday of an international group coordinating military aid to Ukraine. It was the first time America's Pentagon chief didn't attend alongside 50 other defense leaders since the U.S. created the group three years ago. An analysis published Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said the Kremlin is hoping for U.S. disengagement while avoiding further sanctions. 'Without serious pain, Putin will continue to drag the peace talks out, keep fighting, and wait for the United States to walk away,' it said. In tandem with the talks, both sides have kept up offensive military actions along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line and carried out deep strikes. Advertisement Ukraine's Security Service gave more details Wednesday about its spectacular weekend drone strike on Russian air bases, which it claimed destroyed or damaged 41 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers. The agency claimed the planes struck included A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22, Tu-160, An-12, and Il-78 aircraft, adding that artificial intelligence helped guide the drones thousands of kilometers (miles) from Ukraine. It also said it set off an explosion on Tuesday on the seabed beneath the Kerch Bridge, a vital transport link between Russia and illegally annexed Crimea, claiming it caused damage to the structure. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that there was no damage. Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its troops have taken control of another village in Ukraine's northern Sumy region, on the border with Russia. Putin announced on May 22 that Russian troops aim to create a buffer zone that might help prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks. Since then, Russia's Ministry of Defense claims its forces have taken control of nine Sumy villages. Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England contributed.
