Premier Danielle Smith says the absence of an oil pipeline from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s initial list of projects of national interest is not the end of the road for Alberta’s energy future.Smith told the media on Wednesday that Ottawa’s list is “ever-greening” and can be amended as projects advance.“It’s not that nothing else can be added,” Smith said.“We’ve been assured there are pathways to get projects on the list as they become ready.”Smith, who is set to meet the prime minister in Edmonton later Wednesday, believes the omission of a pipeline is a symptom of regulatory barriers rather than an outright rejection of a future project.She cited what she calls “nine bad laws,” such as Ottawa’s emissions cap and the northern BC tanker ban, among others as reasons companies have not stepped forward to invest in a new pipeline..“The way pipelines work is that companies go around and ask producers to pledge barrels,” Smith said.“Why would an oil sands company, in this environment, knowing that there’s an emissions cap that would result in them curtailing 2.1 million barrels of production, pledge new barrels to a pipeline that would go to a coast where there’s a tanker ban?”What pathways does she think can actually get one of these projects onto the list?" When the prime minister came into office, he needed time to appoint a permanent chief of staff and a permanent head of government operations," Smith said. "Those appointments are crucial — you need clear negotiating partners to make progress. Now his team is in place, my team is in place, and we’re having very constructive discussions. We’re optimistic that, in the near future, we’ll be able to move this forward together and get [this] across the finish line. That’s what we’re working on right now."
