Prime Minister Mark Carney this week added seven new energy and infrastructure proposals to his major projects list, none of which were the pipeline that Premier Danielle Smith has been pushing for — a fact Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says is a direct consequence of UCP mismanagement.Nenshi told the media at the Alberta Municipalities Convention and Trade Show on Friday that the absence of any Alberta-backed pipeline on the federal projects list should come as “no surprise,” arguing that Smith has failed to put forward anything resembling a real, workable project.“How could a pipeline be on the list when there is no project, no route, no proponent, no investor, and no communities who have approved it?” Nenshi said.“This is a joke.”He went on to accuse Smith of announcing a pipeline proposal recently in Prince Rupert, BC, that he stated had no foundation, blindsiding indigenous communities in BC, and undermining the credibility needed to move such a project forward.Nenshi mentioned his experience working on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) during his time as Calgary mayor had taught him that pipelines are built through careful, step-by-step groundwork and not political announcements.“I know how to build a pipeline,” Nenshi said..Nenshi slams West Coast oil pipeline plan.“You don't build a pipeline by making an announcement without telling anybody, without giving the federal government and the board and governor of British Columbia a heads-up, instead of sending your minister of Indigenous Relations to call Indigenous communities a half hour before the announcement. It puts people’s backs up against the wall.”Earlier this month, Smith said negotiations with Ottawa were ongoing, claiming Alberta is working toward a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would help secure eventual approval of a pipeline and amend “damaging laws” that she believed were hindering investment.The premier has stated she hopes to finalize the MOU with Carney by the Grey Cup on Sunday, but with the deadline set for this weekend, no new deal looks likely.Nenshi hinted there are other pipeline projects in the works and other proponents who are advancing realistic proposals but are deliberately avoiding Smith and her government because, according to him, they “don’t want her to know.”“They think they can advance this project without the government getting in the way, and that's the kind of work that we will continue to advance, and we will get a pipeline built that this premier will not build.“Every single thing the premier has done on the northwest coast pipeline will guarantee no pipeline. But we do need a pipeline — and that means rolling up our sleeves and doing the hard work outside of the public eye.”
