Saskatchewan premier pitches 'port-to-port corridor' for energy and other exports
Scott Moe admits he likes what he's heard from federal Liberals on energy
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is pitching the idea of a "port-to-port corridor" that would connect energy and other goods to Canada's northern Pacific and Arctic coasts.
Moe made his remarks Monday alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at an event focused on both provinces' ambitions to double oil and gas production.
"I know we are not going to be entirely reliant on the U.S for that marketplace," Moe said. "We are going to have access to the world."
Moe, who leads the right-of-centre Saskatchewan Party government, said he likes what he's been hearing out of the Liberal federal government about making Canada an "energy superpower" and the strongest economy in the G7.
He admits that means going against his political stripe to some degree.
"Far be it for me to be accused of being chair of the Liberal booster club the last decade or so, but there are some comments from this prime minister that I think we can truly get behind," Moe told the event hosted by energy services industry advocacy group Enserva.
Prime Minister Mark Carney's government has introduced legislation that would fast-track certain infrastructure projects deemed in the "national interest," as U.S. President Donald Trump upends what until recently has been a reliable cross-border trading relationship.
Carney has heard pitches from the premiers about what projects they think should be chosen, but has not said which have made the cut.
Alberta premier hopes to see bitumen pipeline, carbon-capture project
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants a bitumen pipeline to be the "anchor tenant" of a corridor to the port of Prince Rupert, B.C., enabling exports to Asia above and beyond what the operating Trans Mountain pipeline can ship from the Vancouver area.
She has said that project should be built in tandem with another one she'd like to see considered in the national interest: the Pathways proposal to capture and sequester carbon emissions from Alberta's biggest oilsands producers.
Smith and Moe also voiced support for a pipeline to the port of Churchill, Man., which would enable exports to Europe via Hudson Bay. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has been keen on the idea, too.
"One thing the prime minister seems to want is a project and a proponent," Smith said.
"So we are working to get a proponent or a consortium to put a project on the table, and then we're going to test out this two-year timeline that he has."
Smith said Carney has asked conservative premiers to reach out to people they know in the federal Conservative Party to help the Liberals' project approval bill pass in the minority Parliament.
Despite being encouraged by the new tone in Ottawa, both Smith and Moe said they want the repeal of numerous federal environmental policies they say have stymied resource investment.
"Policies do matter and we need a significant policy shift and we need it very quickly," Moe said.
The event coincided with the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., where leaders from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as the European Union, are meeting.
The confab of world leaders puts Alberta on the map at a time when the world's approach to energy security is being "recalibrated," Smith said.
"I know that, especially with the world turmoil, the energy security needs of our international partners has never been more important. And I think this really does drive a focus about how Alberta can be the solution."