While highlighting the province’s work to support energy diversification in the Peace Region, Premier Rachel Notley couldn’t avoid talking about tensions between Alberta and B.C. Speaking in the County of Grande Prairie Friday, she said the federal government has been developing its own strategy, alongside lawyers from the province.
“I’m not going to reveal their hand, that’s their job. But we will continue to push them because we cannot let there be any delays as a result of the action of the B.C. government.”
The battle between the two provinces is over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, as Notley says B.C. is trying to delay the project. So far there has been no conversation between all three parties but she expects the feds are having conversations with members of the B.C. government as well. She says she feels confident in their legal team’s track record “should [B.C] be successful” with any legal challenges.
“Thus far, knock on wood, we’ve been successful on every front. Our legal team has been very successful at making the point and we’ve gotten the decisions that we need to get.”
Legal scholar Peter Hogg has joined Alberta’s task force on the matter. Notley calls him the “father of all constitutional law in Canada” and says he feels Alberta’s position is very strong.
Notley was in Grande Prairie earlier Friday to speak at the CUPE conference, where she delivered a message of thanks to about 200 union members. She also spoke about the NDP’s commitment to continuing to fund frontline services.
The premier later stopped at Tradesmen Enterprises in the County, where she supported the company’s bid to be major part of a petrochemical development outside of Edmonton. More than 300 people are employed locally. She also met with HIV North to talk about their plans for a supervised consumption site.