{"id":709426,"date":"2026-06-02T06:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/709426\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:06:15","slug":"alberta-and-quebec-premiers-to-discuss-economic-collaboration-between-provinces-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/709426\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta and Quebec premiers to discuss economic collaboration between provinces this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette, left, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will meet in Quebec City this week, in what Ms. Fr\u00e9chette described as \u2018an exploratory meeting.\u2019Christopher Katsarov, Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith<\/a> will meet in Quebec City this week, as both leaders prepare for campaigns that could strain national unity. <\/p>\n

Speaking in Montreal, Ms. Fr\u00e9chette described the planned encounter as \u201can exploratory meeting\u201d intended to identify economic sectors in which the two provinces can collaborate. She expressed interest in discussing a possible east-west \u201cenergy corridor\u201d with her western counterpart. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith Alberta, it makes sense to see if there are any projects that could connect us,\u201d she said Monday at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. The Quebec Premier\u2019s office declined to provide any further details about the planned meeting.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t give Alberta separatists space to gain traction, St\u00e9phane Dion warns<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Smith, at an unrelated news conference in Calgary on Monday, said she was pleased to hear the Quebec Premier is interested in discussing east-west energy projects. The Alberta Premier said she previously spoke with Ms. Fr\u00e9chette\u2019s predecessor, Fran\u00e7ois Legault, about how Quebec\u2019s natural gas reserves could reduce the province\u2019s reliance on the U.S. and increase export capacity to Europe.<\/p>\n

Ms. Smith said she wasn\u2019t aware that energy projects connecting the two provinces would be on the agenda. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping that she\u2019d be willing to talk about that,\u201d Ms. Smith said. <\/p>\n

The premiers\u2019 meeting comes at a delicate time for national unity, as secessionist rumblings have picked up in both provinces. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Fr\u00e9chette said Alberta and Quebec share common ground in their efforts to assert greater provincial autonomy.Christopher Katsarov\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Alberta voters will hit the polls in October<\/a> to decide whether the province should remain in Canada or begin the legal process working toward a binding independence referendum. <\/p>\n

That vote will take place on Oct. 19, shortly after Quebec\u2019s provincial election, which is likely to be dominated by a debate about sovereignty. The separatist Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, leading or tied in most polls, has promised an independence referendum if it wins the Oct. 5 election.<\/p>\n

Ms. Fr\u00e9chette, Leader of the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec, has said little about Alberta\u2019s planned referendum. She has made clear she opposes a potential third referendum on independence in Quebec, though she has not said how she would vote if a referendum were to be held.<\/p>\n

Ms. Smith said Alberta and Quebec share common ground in their efforts to assert greater provincial autonomy. Ms. Smith\u2019s first piece of legislation as Premier was the Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act, a bill she described as a tool for fighting federal regulations. It has not been tested in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we can have a strong partnership between Quebec and Alberta \u2013 not only on how we repair the country, so it gets back to the way it was initially intended to run, but also on an energy corridor,\u201d Ms. Smith said.<\/p>\n

Quebec politicians condemn Carney\u2019s comments on conditions for referendum victory<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Fr\u00e9chette\u2019s comments about a possible energy corridor reflect a broader shift in a province that has long opposed major pipeline projects through its territory. She has previously said she is open to reconsidering Quebec\u2019s ban on shale gas exploration, which has been in place since 2022, pointing to the need to reduce the province\u2019s dependence on the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Quebec have shifted their views in recent months. I would say this has been particularly true since Donald Trump\u2019s arrival to the White House,\u201d she said Monday. \u201cWe need to adapt as the situation evolves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Fr\u00e9chette said Prime Minister Mark Carney has been advocating for an energy corridor since he took office. \u201cHe wants us to further strengthen our ties between the east and the west,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

She mentioned construction and aluminum as two other sectors in which Quebec and Alberta could work together. \u201cThere are markets to be tapped,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms. Smith said she won\u2019t be meeting with Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in her travels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette, left, and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will meet in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-709426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}