Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wasted no time in standing by her Saskatchewan counterpart in trying to get pipelines built.
“It’s time for Team Canada to get serious about our domestic energy security, nation building, and growing our economy,” said Smith.
She added that she has long emphasized Alberta’s willingness to collaborate with other provinces and the federal government to develop pipeline projects nationwide.
Smith’s comments came in response to the initial call from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who said all pipeline permits in his province would be pre-approved moving forward.
Alberta’s premier was the first to answer Moe’s call. Still, others may follow as he asked each premier and the federal government to follow his lead.
In Moe’s initial post to X, he also tagged U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump had posted about the Keystone XL pipeline on Truth Social two days before Moe’s announcement.
“The company building the Keystone XL Pipeline that was viciously jettisoned by the incompetent Biden Administration should come back to America, and get it built — NOW!” said Trump. “I know they were treated very badly by Sleepy Joe Biden, but the Trump Administration is very different — Easy approvals, almost immediate start! If not them, perhaps another Pipeline Company. We want the Keystone XL Pipeline built!”
Alberta previously partnered with Saskatchewan and Ontario to fight Bill C-69, the “no more pipelines act.”
The act was eventually deemed largely unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Smith continuously engaged in a war of words with federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault over the act and the future of energy in the country.
The shift towards a pro-pipeline and pro-energy sentiment among political leaders in Canada followed President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Smith was the first provincial leader to argue that expanding energy infrastructure was key to countering the tariffs.
Even Liberal candidates have been changing their stances on pipelines, sometimes.
The frontrunner in the Liberal Party of Canada’s leadership election, Mark Carney, told anglophone Canadians that he would do everything in his power to accelerate energy projects and boost the economy.
However, in French, he said he would never impose a pipeline on Quebec or any other province.
Well before Carney’s recent conflicting remarks, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized him for a different hypocrisy. Poilievre accused Carney of making billions from foreign pipelines while shutting them down in Canada.
Poilievre pledged to repeal the “no more pipelines act.” He added that he would back new LNG plants, pipelines, and mines while green-lighting federal permits and supporting an East-West pipeline.