EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was bullish about Alberta's oil and gas industry when taking a victory lap and addressing some of her party's largest donors at the UCP Edmonton Leader's Dinner on Wednesday.In her speech to over 1,200 UCP donors, Smith bragged about the MOU her government achieved with Prime Minister Mark Carney towards constructing a Northern Alberta-to-the-coast-of-Northern-BC pipeline.She said the commitments in the agreement are unlike anything accomplished under the prior Liberal federal government."They slam the door shut on the vast majority of the nine bad laws that were left over from the Trudeau era — laws that killed jobs, drove away investment, and suffocated Canada's economic productivity," said Smith..Even with the progress made between the Government of Alberta and the federal government, Smith admits Albertans need to see physical proof and not words on paper.Smith has long touted that Alberta needs to find a way to get their oil and gas to Asian markets via a Northern BC pipeline, and her belief is that other Canadians are beginning to see things from her perspective."Recent global events are proof of that," Smith said. "From Venezuela to Iran, geopolitical events have made it abundantly clear that the world needs more Alberta oil and gas.""And thanks to Alberta's tremendous resource wealth, Canada stands alone as one of the most secure and reliable energy partners in the world.".She believes that if former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had negotiated and worked with Alberta to construct pipelines during his decade in office, Alberta could have exported an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, with an additional $55 billion in revenue generated.With the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, Smith claims "anti-democratic regimes" are stepping up to fill the void left by Alberta's inability to feed the world's energy market."And while the best time to build a pipeline was 10 years ago, the next best time is now," Smith said."We must build new pipelines west, east, north and south – without delay and without hesitation – to supply Asian, European and American markets with safe, reliable and responsibly produced energy products.".Elsewhere in her speech, Smith added that her government would like to see Ottawa "end their attack on law-abiding firearms owners" and turn their focus towards the real problems, which are gang violence, illegal drugs and guns being smuggled across borders.She also talked about federal bail reform and the need for greater provincial control over immigration."The opportunities ahead of us are greater than ever before, and my commitment to you is this – Alberta will seize those opportunities, and Edmonton will be at the forefront of the success," Smith said to close her speech."If we work hard and deliver real results, Edmontonians will trust us with their vote in 2027. And together we will keep Alberta forever strong and free."
