Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe backs Alberta on pipeline plans

Building a pipeline from Alberta to B.C.’s northwest coast could be the “most significant generationally important infrastructure that we could consider as Canadians.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe made the comments during the grand opening of the new awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School in Saskatoon on Friday.

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Moe told reporters a pipeline would be a great step forward, and would have a positive financial impact using domestically produced steel, and construction workers coming from across the country.

Earlier this week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Premier Danielle Smith said her government is committing $14 million to a West Coast oil pipeline do-over that hinges on First Nations getting on board early and Ottawa reversing a tanker ban that would make such a project unworkable on the northern B.C. coast.

“What stands before us right now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock our wealth and resources and become a world-leading energy superpower,” Smith told a news conference in Calgary on Wednesday.

However, B.C. Premier David Eby is not on board with the project, saying it’s entirely taxpayer funded, with no private investment at this point.

The proposal will be filed with the new federal Major Projects Office, which aims to speed along developments deemed in the national interest. A submission is expected in the spring of next year.

Moe said the sale of Alberta oil could net up to $30 billion dollars a year, but that the decision on approvals lies entirely with the federal government, not the B.C. government or any other provincial government.

“There is no B.C. coast, it’s Canada’s coast. There is no B.C. ports, they’re Canada’s ports and I feel an equal owner in those ports as a Canadian.”.

Moe added that if Canada is serious about expanding and diversifying its economy from away the U.S., there’s no project that could do it like the pipeline project could.

“If we are truly serious about becoming a global energy superpower, and we are striving to be and have the strongest economy in the G7, we need to open up opportunities for all of our industries to be developed,” he said.

The Premier went on to say that there’s not only a responsibility to discuss the plans and the ideas, but to move forward in what he called a responsible manner with proper consultations, including consultations with First Nations, along with potential route ideas.

— with files from 650 CKOM’s Will Mandzuk and The Canadian Press

Read more:

• Premier says pipeline permits ‘considered pre-approved’ in Sask.
•  Tariffs & Saskatchewan: What do tariffs mean for you?
• ‘What we need is hope’ NDP Leader Carla Beck addresses delegates at party convention