Smith declares Alberta’s pipeline deal with feds ‘a clear win’ at UCP convention

Alberta's water parting line trade with capital of canada wasn't look and centre Friday when Premier Danielle Smith spoke with United Conservative Party faithful at their annual convention.

Smith took the stage in Edmonton for the first of many addresses planned for the weekend.

It wasn't until after she spoke on issues including rural policing, new federal legislation and even separatism that someone in the crowd asked for clarification on Alberta's commitments in the deal, prompting her to address it.

"I think it's a clear win," Smith said of the accord. "It's a clear win for Alberta and for my incredible ministers who did a lot of work on that."

There was some applause, but the premier was later met with a chorus of boos when she asked party supporters if they feel more confident in Canada than they did a couple of days ago.

The deal, signed by Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, commits Alberta and Ottawa to working together toward a new bitumen pipeline to the West Coast. Carney also walked back many of the nine federal laws Smith has long blamed for stalling energy investments in the province.

"I would say seven out of nine isn't bad," Smith told the UCP crowd, listing off the looming oil and gas emissions cap and clean electricity regulations that Carney agreed to back off of, at least for Alberta.

But the deal also binds Alberta to a future framework of higher industrial carbon pricing, which one UCP constituency association president said is reason enough to toss the agreement.

Mitch Sylvestre, the constituency association president for a rural riding northeast of Edmonton and a leader in Alberta's separatist movement, said he thinks the deal with Carney will be a hard sell for some, if not most, party members.

"I literally think it's insane," Sylvestre said of the carbon price pledge. "I cannot see anybody being onside of this. I'm absolutely blown away."

The deal also doesn't outright guarantee a pipeline, he said, so Smith might be in for a "rough ride" once party members get a better understanding of the details.

"The only way Alberta's getting the pipeline built is if we leave Canada."

Smith tried to address concerns about a potential increased industrial carbon price, saying the industry itself didn't want to see the system go away and that regardless of the price, any taxes paid by emitters will stay in Alberta since the province manages the system and doles out the taxes as grants back to industry.

"It's very important for us in Alberta to maintain control over that carbon pricing," Smith said.

"We just feel like if we were to give that up, that the federal government would step in and then we would really end up having a potential harm come to our large businesses."

She said while the deal requires Alberta to get to a minimum carbon price of $130 per tonne, up from its current rate of $95, it's still up for negotiation how quickly the province reaches that benchmark.

Some in the crowd perked up at talk of separatism as candidates made their cases for board positions. The party estimated about 4,000 members will be attending the conference, which wraps Sunday.

The memorandum of understanding with Ottawa later became a sore spot when Smith and most of her cabinet took questions from the floor.

Jeffrey Rath, another leader in the separatist movement, took to the mic to accuse Carney of increasing the carbon price in Alberta before the "ink was dry" on the deal.

"How many of all of us favour a free and independent Alberta?" he asked. The crowd burst into applause and gave the idea an enthusiastic standing ovation.

Smith's initial response, that she supports an independent Alberta within a united Canada, drew loud boos.

Future UCP policies to be decided over the weekend

The premier said she's confident the pipeline will become a reality, and someday ship a million barrels of oil per day to Asian markets.

"I know there's a lot of reasons why people are skeptical, but I can tell you none of that would have been possible under the Trudeau Liberals," she said.

"I would just ask for a little bit of a leap of faith."

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

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