{"id":40315,"date":"2026-05-11T12:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/40315\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:12:07","slug":"varcoe-the-prime-minister-shares-my-urgency-alberta-premier-believes-a-framework-largely-in-place-on-carbon-pricing-under-energy-accord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/40315\/","title":{"rendered":"Varcoe: ‘The prime minister shares my urgency’ \u2014 Alberta premier believes a framework largely in place on carbon pricing under energy accord"},"content":{"rendered":"

Premier Danielle Smith believes a framework for a federal-provincial agreement on ramping up Alberta\u2019s industrial carbon price has largely been reached with Prime Minister Mark Carney \u2014 one that could be unveiled as early as this week.<\/p>\n

And she believes the prime minister wants to see a new oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast go forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, absolutely,\u201d Smith said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made our case that if we want to have an advantage in accessing Asian markets, then the best way to do that is to build a pipeline that is the shortest route to those Asian markets . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cIf\u00a0we\u00a0are\u00a0going to\u00a0open up\u00a0those markets and\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0that Canada works\u00a0and\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0the partnership, it\u00a0kind of makes\u00a0sense for us to build a made-in-Canada pipeline, so I feel\u00a0very confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s premier and the prime minister sat down\u00a0Friday\u00a0for a 45-minute chat in Ottawa, discussing\u00a0their joint federal-provincial energy accord, which was signed five months ago.<\/p>\n

Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU)<\/a>, Ottawa committed it will declare Alberta\u2019s proposed bitumen pipeline to the Pacific Coast a project of national interest. It can be referred to the Major Projects Office, where it will be considered for expedited federal approval.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0a new\u00a0pipeline to\u00a0the British Columbia coast\u00a0depends\u00a0on the\u00a0massive\u00a0Pathways carbon capture project in the oilsands<\/a> advancing, a proposal that has not received the green light from members of the Oil Sands Alliance.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0part of the\u00a0MOU,\u00a0the province agreed to negotiate a new industrial carbon price agreement under its Alberta\u2019s Technology, Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system, increasing the levy on large emitters to an effective rate of $130 per tonne, but the pact didn\u2019t\u00a0spell out when the level must be hit.<\/p>\n

The price is currently frozen at $95 a tonne, although carbon credits trade at a much lower level.<\/p>\n

The debate over the pace of the increase has led to protracted discussions, and the two sides missed an initial deadline of April 1 for a carbon price accord.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

One source told the Herald that the federal and provincial governments have now agreed Alberta\u2019s effective carbon price needs to reach $130 a tonne by 2040, with stages and steps to reach that level.<\/p>\n

The two governments are discussing the details of potential financial mechanisms \u2014 including a possible floor price and a contract for difference \u2014 in support of stabilizing the TIER carbon trading market.<\/p>\n

Smith wouldn\u2019t comment on the 2040 timeline or on specifics of the talks.<\/p>\n

But she indicated the two sides made \u201csubstantial\u201d advancements Friday and thinks they have the framework of an agreement on industrial carbon pricing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say yes, I\u00a0think we do,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still inking the deal, and we just have to make sure that some of the undertakings that the prime minister and I had are worked out . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given some direction to our various officials to\u00a0finalize\u00a0things and so\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0just have to let that play out over the course\u00a0of\u00a0the next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

An information booth for the Pathways Alliance at the Oil Sands Trade Show in Fort McMurray on Sept. 10, 2025.<\/p>\n

The broader MOU covers an array of energy and environmental issues, such as methane regulations<\/a>, consideration of a new oil export pipeline to the Pacific Coast, and advancing the Pathways carbon capture project.<\/p>\n

The decarbonization initiative, estimated to cost about $20 billion, would connect various oilsands facilities in northern Alberta to an underground CO2 storage hub near Cold Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the face of global trade shifts, (Alberta\u2019s premier) and I are working to build a stronger, more independent, and more sustainable economy,\u201d Carney wrote Friday on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met in Ottawa today to discuss how we can unlock the full potential of Alberta\u2019s resources\u00a0(and)\u00a0lower emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta hopes to\u00a0submit its proposal for a new Pacific Coast pipeline to the federal Major Projects Office by the end of June.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel with these final pieces that we\u2019re working on, that both the prime minister and I realize the urgency, that industry is losing confidence. Albertans are losing confidence. We missed the deadline. It\u2019s now almost six weeks after,\u201d Smith added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we want to let people know that this\u00a0new approach\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0taking to co-operative federalism\u00a0works, then we\u00a0have to\u00a0have an agreement. And\u00a0so,\u00a0I think the prime minister\u00a0shares my urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once an industrial carbon price agreement is reached, it\u2019s expected the two levels of government will turn to trilateral negotiations with the Oil Sands Alliance \u2014 a group of five of the largest oilsands operators, including Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural Resources and Suncor Energy \u2014 on the proposed Pathways project.<\/p>\n

Smith indicated the pipeline proposal will be given to the Major Projects Office next month, even if a deal on Pathways isn\u2019t reached by that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to put the major projects proposal in, but we are very conscious of the fact that the MOU links those two things, and so\u00a0there\u2019ll be an urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The negotiations continue as business leaders have pressed the federal government recently to streamline regulatory processes for project approvals, and to ensure industry can attract necessary investment needed to boost oil production.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the goals of the current (federal) government is to increase exports to other jurisdictions,\u201d Canadian Natural Resources executive chair Murray Edwards said in an interview last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0supportive of a new pipeline, but to do\u00a0that new pipeline,\u00a0(it)\u00a0is only\u00a0required\u00a0to the extent we can grow production.\u00a0If we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0grow production, we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need a new pipeline. If we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0grow production, we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need Pathways.\u00a0So,\u00a0they all fit together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Canadian Natural Resources executive chairman Murray Edwards speaks to shareholders during the company\u2019s annual general meeting at the Telus Convention Centre on Thursday, May 8, 2025.<\/p>\n

On Friday,\u00a0the energy\u00a0industry\u00a0saw some\u00a0progress\u00a0on the regulatory\u00a0reform front.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0federal\u00a0government released discussion papers\u00a0that\u00a0aim\u00a0to\u00a0overhaul\u00a0the\u00a0approval processes\u00a0for\u00a0new\u00a0developments,\u00a0saying these\u00a0potential changes\u00a0\u201cwould ensure federal reviews and decision-making timelines take no longer than\u00a0one\u00a0year, once all information from the project proponent has been received.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Baiton, CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, welcomed the announcement, saying\u00a0it\u00a0has the potential to improve\u00a0timelines, provide more certainty and simplify processes.<\/p>\n

Business Council of Alberta president Adam Legge said the federal proposals should help restore investor confidence. He applauded the idea to put the Canada Energy Regulator in charge of making decisions over new pipelines, transmission lines and offshore energy projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis puts Canada back in the game,\u201d Legge said. \u201cThis gets us so much closer to where we can compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changes are positive, but governments still need to resolve outstanding policy issues, said Heather Exner-Pirot, director of natural resources, energy and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I think\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0seeing this urgency and frustration.\u00a0We\u00a0are in\u00a0purgatory until you know what the carbon price framework is going to be,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be very tricky for Smith.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0going to\u00a0be hard to satisfy everyone, for Carney to satisfy everyone. So,\u00a0I\u2019m very curious how they\u00a0solve\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.<\/p>\n

cvarcoe@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier Danielle Smith believes a framework for a federal-provincial agreement on ramping up Alberta\u2019s industrial carbon price has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[2862,9739,11283,17543,3178,1651,4136,111,8217,141],"class_list":{"0":"post-40315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mark-carney","8":"tag-alberta-premier","9":"tag-carbon-capture","10":"tag-carbon-price","11":"tag-carbon-trading","12":"tag-danielle-smith","13":"tag-energy","14":"tag-major-projects-office","15":"tag-mark-carney","16":"tag-oil-pipeline","17":"tag-prime-minister"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}