Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called on the Canadian government to make similar large spending commitments in Western Canada like it has in the East. .“We’ve got equivalent investments that need to be made in Western Canada,” said Smith at a Tuesday press conference after the Western Premiers’ Conference. .“We’ve got carbon capture utilization and storage in Alberta.” .Smith started off by saying the Canadian government spending $13 billion on a battery factory in Ontario and the significant spending in the Atlantic Loop came up in conversations. She said Western Canada needs money for hydrogen, small modular nuclear reactors, and infrastructure such as ports and railways in northern communities to get minerals to market. .The premier went on to say seeing the Canadian government ready to spend money in Eastern Canada is “fantastic, and we support those kinds of investments.” That is what she is talking about with equivalency. .“There has to be a recognition that if we’re going to address these issues, we have to address them in different ways in each jurisdiction, and there has to be a similar amount of interest from the federal government,” she said. .British Columbia Premier David Eby said there was broad interest from all premiers about reducing pollution and fighting climate change. .Eby said there was "some anxiety around the table from premiers from some jurisdictions, particularly around timelines to decarbonizing the electrical generation systems in their provinces." He added BC is fortunate to have plenty of hydroelectricty and the ability to support jurisdictions other than it. .Eby acknowledged part of the conversation was how do the provinces support each other in sharing strengths.."One of those that British Columbia was able put on the table was if we can find ways to inter-tie with, for example, the Yukon to support them in their efforts to access more electricity, to grow their economy, and decarbonize their electric grid, then that's very good news for every body," he said. ."We need to look to each other's strengths to support each other in the work that we need to do and that the federal government needs to look at each province in terms of our strengths and also where we’re going to need additional support and consideration for the unique positioning of our provinces.” .The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) urged Canadian opposition parties in April to decline the $13 billion subsidy the federal government is providing to Volkswagen for the construction of an electric vehicle battery factory near St. Thomas, ON. .READ MORE: Trudeau gov’t gives Volkswagen $13 billion subsidy for battery plant.The jobs the subsidy creates will cost $1.6 million each..“Taxpayers don’t have $13 billion to give to a multinational corporation,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano.
