CALGARY — On Monday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford sat down with the CEO of the Canadian energy industry association Enserva, Gurpreet Lail, as a part of their Enserva Speaker Series.At the event in Calgary the two premiers discussed a wide variety of topics related to current affairs in their respective provinces and the country as a whole.The first topic was what the two leaders felt the impact of the ongoing trade war with the United States would have on the Canadian economy.Ford was first to answer, saying that although the trade war will undoubtedly have negative economic consequences for Canada in the short term, he noted that the actions of the United States had inadvertently made Canadians realize just how dependent they had become on their southern neighbour."There's two great things that President Trump did for us. He woke us up, we needed to be woken up, and he's united the country like I've never seen before," he said. "No matter what political stripe, so I think we're going to get through it.".Enserva CEO Gurpreet Lail echoed this sentiment, saying that she "wholeheartedly agreed" with Ford and that Trump's threats have "given us an opportunity that we didn't have decades ago on building new infrastructure within Canada to get our product out to different markets."Continuing on the topic of building new infrastructure, Smith was asked about the current status of the approved and proposed projects she has campaigned for."I'm feeling more and more confident every day that the West Coast oil pipeline is going to be the first of the projects that go ahead," she said, talking about the long proposed West Coast oil pipeline that she and the federal government believe will help bring Canadian oil to Asian markets.Speaking about the newly proposed Northern Shield pipeline, which would run from Alberta to Ontario and allow for Alberta oil to be shipped entirely within Canada, Smith deferred the question to Ford, who has promised increasingly ambitious goals and deadlines for the project..Ford brought up the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway by Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, noting that if the Canadians of the late 1800s could build a transcontinental railway, Canadians in the modern day should be able to build a transcontinental pipeline in a much shorter time."If John A. Macdonald, before Confederation, I think it was 1860, can build a railroad from one end of our country to the other in four and a half years, why can't we even build a pipeline even quicker with the technology we have?" Ford questioned.Smith seconded this point, bringing up the building of the TransCanada pipeline in the 1950s, acknowledging that it took them only 18 months to build the pipeline, making Ford's goal of four and a half years all the more realistic."If they could do it in 18 months back then, four and a half years or less should absolutely be possible today.".Finally, the two leaders were asked about the ongoing independence debate that is happening in Alberta, with Smith pointing to the changing attitude in Ottawa towards the energy industry as the main reason she's advocating for Alberta to remain in Canada."We recognize the effort that Canada is making. We recognize the effort that our fellow premiers are making," she said. "We recognize that Canadians are with us, and so that's what I am hoping will happen on October the 19th. I hope it's resolved on October 19."Ford was much more efficient with his response, saying, "I need to keep this real, real short, folks. United we stand, divided we fall. We need to be [a] united country. We need to stand together, and we're so much stronger."Later in the day the two leaders engaged in what Ford called a "productive discussion" about building pipelines and furthering the build energy infrastructure that benefits Albertans, Ontarians, and all Canadians.
