Prime Minister Carney to spend Canada Day in Alberta amid pipeline deadline
Carney will be in the province July 1, the same day Alberta submits its pipeline proposal for federal fast-track consideration.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney will spend Canada Day evening in Alberta on Wednesday, July 1, just as the province submits a major pipeline proposal to the federal government.
Carney said Tuesday he has been in close contact with Premier Danielle Smith. Alberta has a July 1 deadline to submit a proposal to the federal government's new major projects office seeking fast-track approval for a new pipeline project.
Carney confirmed there is not yet a private-sector proponent backing Alberta's initial pipeline proposal, though he said talks are progressing and the process will continue through the summer. The memorandum of understanding signed between Carney and Smith in November specified the pipeline must be privately constructed and financed.
The federal government will take several months—until October—to decide whether to refer Alberta's submission to the Major Projects Office, Carney said. The process will involve consultation with stakeholders and other procedural steps.
Carney's Canada Day visit comes as Albertans prepare to vote on a fall referendum question about whether the province should hold a second vote on leaving the federation. Carney has called the referendum question a "real referendum" and compared separation campaigns to Brexit, arguing that "leave" campaigns make unrealistic promises and sidestep the practical costs of separation.
