Energy strategy headlining New West Partnership meeting
Posted Dec 13, 2011 8:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The three most western premiers have agreed to engage the federal government about a Canadian energy strategy.
Premier Alison Redford, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and B.C.’s Christy Clark made that decision during the New West Partnership meeting in Edmonton Tuesday.
Redford says that’s not the only issue that needs to be addressed.
“We also talked about labour force development, immigration and ensuring that we are part of a national conversation on issues that matter, not only to western Canada but to Canada as a whole,” Redford says.
Redford also says they will meet with their federal counterparts before she calls a an election in the spring.
The proposed Gateway Pipeline, which would be built from Alberta through B.C. to ship oil to Asia was also discussed.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark says she will wait to see the results of a regulatory review before committing to it.
Premiers discussed the upcoming Council of the Federation meeting in Victoria, including ways and measures to address the sustainability of the health care system. They stressed that new measures must focus on patient care. The Premiers also agreed that the federal government should continue to provide the current 6% escalator in the Canada Health Transfer to support health innovation.
They also emphasized the importance of promoting western Canada to new international markets and the need for innovation in health care, agriculture, energy and environmental technologies in support of long-term economic growth.
Meanwhile Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith released a statement saying she is concerned Redford hasn’t successfully made the case, that the Alberta’s pipeline capacity must be improved to get our province’s energy product to market.
Smith adds that Redford didn’t lobby for the Keystone XL Pipeline in Washington during her visit and hasn’t convinced our western partners to build a gateway pipeline to the west coast.
