Rachel Notley gets 'no clear commitment' on pipelines at federal cabinet retreat
Alberta premier says she made the case that provincial, national economies are linked
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley made her case to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers about the importance of pipelines to Alberta and the nation at a cabinet retreat in Kananaskis, Alta., on Sunday evening.
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"There was no clear commitment given to us tonight," Notley told reporters after her meetings.
But that wasn't necessarily the goal, she said
"I saw today as an opportunity to make Alberta's case to the federal cabinet," she said.
Notley said she covered the Energy East pipeline, Alberta's Climate Leadership Plan and employment insurance changes that Edmonton was left out of.
"That is what we came here to do and I feel like I got a good hearing and I am pleased at the opportunity."
Working with facts
Notley said she laid out her climate plan to make sure ministers were working with facts.
"It was really a great opportunity to talk about it in some detail because I don't think they all understood every element of it," Notley said.
She had private meetings with Trudeau and about half of his cabinet.
Feds have a process
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said earlier in the day the Liberals are working through a process on the pipeline question.
"We want to move our natural resources to tidewater sustainably and we have announced a set of principles that will guide us along that way," Carr said.
Notley said Alberta and Ottawa are on the same page more or less.
"I agree with the approach that they are taking," Notley said.
Previous governments 'came together to fail'
"Two Conservative governments, both at a federal level and at a provincial level, came together to fail on the issue of getting a pipeline approved because they paired that with a refusal to deal with climate change and a refusal to deal with the fact that people distrusted the process that was in place," Notley said.
"We have a lot of challenging issues both in Alberta and across the country and I think it is really important for governments to work together and to engage in frank and well-informed dialogue and I think this was a wonderful opportunity to do just that."