{"id":129734,"date":"2026-07-14T22:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/129734\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T22:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:34:40","slug":"braid-big-projects-lock-smith-and-carney-in-a-pact-neither-can-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/129734\/","title":{"rendered":"Braid: Big projects lock Smith and Carney in a pact neither can break"},"content":{"rendered":"

The big-project beat goes on.<\/p>\n

After more than a week of buzz and announcements, Premier Danielle Smith ended the Stampede blitz with another whopper.<\/p>\n

That was Monday’s announcement that the Oilsands Alliance, the group of five key companies, has reached a memorandum of understanding on the Pathways carbon capture and storage project.<\/p>\n

There’s long been doubt this could happen.<\/p>\n

This is still a preliminary agreement, but all signs point to a future for vastly increased oilsands production, along with carbon capture to reduce per-barrel emissions.<\/p>\n

This was Ottawa’s stopper. Prime Minister Mark Carney needed carbon capture to keep peace in his caucus. Ottawa could not be seen to abandon climate action.<\/p>\n

For Smith, the MOU was right on hand to impress provincial environment ministers who met in Calgary on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Carbon capture has already done Canada a lot of good by helping drive ex-environment minister Steven Guilbeault out of Carney’s government.<\/p>\n

Guilbeault quit as an MP, saying the Liberals were “rewarding negative behaviour” \u2014 a final blurt of paternalism from downtown Montreal.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

The Oilsands Alliance MOU was the cap on a week of big oil and gas announcements, perfectly timed to take advantage of the Stampede spotlight.<\/p>\n

First came word that a pipeline to B.C.’s south coast<\/a> would go forward to the Special Projects Office. Abandoned was the long campaign for a northern line.<\/p>\n

Smith took criticism for that, but she was being realistic. A northern line would be another Northern Gateway, beset by delays and protests.<\/p>\n

Smith now calls the project the “West Coast” pipeline, a comfortably generic handle.<\/p>\n

Next came “Northern Shield”<\/a> \u2014 the name cooked up for a proposed pipeline from Hardisty to Sarnia refineries in Ontario.<\/p>\n

This is a great idea. The project would avoid shipping eastbound oil through Line 5 in the U.S.<\/p>\n

But the project, boosted by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, is also mythical. It has no history and no backers.<\/p>\n

If Northern Shield and the West Coast line somehow opened at the same time, producers probably couldn’t fill them.<\/p>\n

Still, it’s a worthy longer-term aspiration that showed cross-border support from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.<\/p>\n

\"Alberta<\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford held a joint press conference at McDougall Centre in Calgary on Monday, July 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Smith even had a nibble of support from new Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette for a pipeline on Quebec territory. Anti-pipeline frenzy has finally started to fade in the most hostile province.<\/p>\n

Then came the blockbuster announcement of a $13-billion data centre<\/a> to be built near Edmonton by Meta Platforms.<\/p>\n

All in all, it was a week that begs a question.<\/p>\n

Isn’t it time to drop the suspicion that Ottawa is just setting Alberta up for another betrayal?<\/p>\n

It takes getting used to, this friendly, collaborative relationship with federal Liberals.<\/p>\n

Albertans are so conditioned to hostility after the long Justin Trudeau era that it’s hard to believe them.<\/p>\n

But surely the moment has arrived to drop the anger and get on with the job of developing Alberta.<\/p>\n

\"Alberta<\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson flip flapjacks for the Premier\u2019s Pancake Breakfast at McDougall Centre in Calgary on Monday, July 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Consider the comments from Tim Hodgson, the federal minister of energy and natural resources, as the Oilsands Alliance MOU was announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“Canada has what it takes to be an energy superpower: resource abundance, growing international trade relationships and a world-class workforce.<\/p>\n

“Over the last eight months, we have been steadily delivering on each commitment in the Canada-Alberta MOU, working with Alberta and the energy industry to build major energy infrastructure, reduce emissions, create jobs and prosperity, and secure energy sovereignty.<\/p>\n

“The Pathways project is critical to delivering on these goals and maintaining a thriving, responsible energy sector for the long-term.”<\/p>\n

Hodgson is not just an ally. He’s a booster.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, we’re at the point where UCP Premier Smith and Liberal PM Carney are fully invested in each other’s success.<\/p>\n

If either one turns traitor, they’re both destroyed.<\/p>\n

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald<\/p>\n

X<\/a> and Bluesky<\/a>: @DonBraid<\/p>\n