Prime Minister Mark Carney’s agreement with Alberta toward a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast has angered the few opposition MPs who saved his Liberal government from falling in a recent confidence vote, increasing the prospect of a snap election.
On Thursday, Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlined the conditions needed for Ottawa to back a new pipeline proposal, which included strengthening the province’s industrial carbon pricing system and supporting a carbon capture and storage project advanced by the Pathways Alliance — a consortium of Canada’s six largest oilsands companies.
In exchange, the federal government will scrap the long-promised oil and gas emissions cap, and exempt Alberta from regulations pressing provinces to decarbonize their electricity grid.
