Smith cautiously optimistic on new deal with feds for pipeline to the B

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is optimistic but also cautious — on a new deal with the federal government on a pipeline to the B-C coast.

Smith has signed an energy agreement with Prime Minister Mark Carney that includes cutting greenhouse gases while also laying out the broad strokes of a pipeline to get oil to new markets in Asia.

Smith says she trusts the agreement but is also wary, given what she calls past federal rules and regulations that have undercut Alberta’s core industry.

The agreement ties the pipeline to joint efforts by Alberta and Ottawa to build the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project.

In exchange, Smith says the accord would see carbon pricing stay provincial, an emissions cap exemption and potential adjustments to the West Coast tanker ban.