EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta plans to submit a federal approval application for the Northwest BC pipeline by June and claims tensions around the Straight of Hormuz have helped Canadian recognized the importance of pipelines. "There are so many different agencies, boards, commissions and processes that could bottleneck approval of a major project; their major project office acts as a bit of an overlay," said Smith when taking questions from elected officials at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta convention on Tuesday."So when you get something into the major projects office, and you say, this is approved in principle, that sets the clock on a two-year time frame where all of those agencies have to work together to get everything in place, to get that organization and approval."Pointing to recent federal moves to expedite the approval process, Smith said progress is being made.Smith said Alberta's plan is to submit the application for federal approval by June, and hopes to get signs pointing to the project moving forward "by the fall.""So just hold up for a few months longer, but the process appears to be working," Smith said. "We seem to have had a bit of a 180-degree change in direction. I think that's going to be positive for all of us, not just Alberta, but Canada as well..Smith's comments came in response to a question from Wood Buffalo Councillor Don Scott, who asked when Albertans can expect to see progress on a pipeline to the Northern BC coast and how they can trust the federal government to uphold its side of the MOU with Alberta.She told Scott that Alberta officials were meeting with federal officials throughout the day today to address outstanding issues blocking a final agreement between the two parties, such as local pushback from Northern BC groups. ."I think with what we're seeing internationally, especially with the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and how that is impacting the recipients in Asian countries, we are perfectly situated to be able to provide a new source of heavy oil to those refineries in that region," Smith said."So I think that the rest of the country now realizes how important this asset is."Smith added that she intends to attend the CERAWeek conference in Houston from March 23-27 and will relay Alberta's eagerness to build pipelines in every direction. "I think we finally have an understanding from the federal government that we need to do that," Smith said.
