The CBC story landed with a thump on Monday afternoon: Prime Minister Mark Carney’s memorandum of understanding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, it suggested, would include a carve-out for her province on clean electricity regulations.

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault was stunned.

This had not been discussed at the cabinet table, nor had Liberal MPs been briefed in caucus. They’d been told the MOU required Alberta to beef up its industrial carbon pricing regime, build the Pathways carbon capture project, and obtain the consent of Indigenous Peoples and the government of British Columbia. Some felt that with B.C. and Indigenous opposition, Alberta would be forced to enact better climate laws in exchange for the promise of a pipeline that would never get built.

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