{"id":779030,"date":"2026-07-04T04:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779030\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:03:10","slug":"will-alberta-pipeline-proposal-move-voters-ahead-of-separation-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779030\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Alberta pipeline proposal move voters ahead of separation vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Standing alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney, Premier Danielle Smith unveiled Alberta’s official proposal<\/a> for an oil pipeline to the West Coast on Thursday, a project she’s pointed to as proof her province can work with Ottawa.<\/p>\n

But while one pollster said the project could move some “soft separatist” voters to instead support remaining in Canada, some Albertans supporting independence are still skeptical the pipeline will ever be completed.<\/p>\n

Let Alberta Decide, a third-party advertiser advocating for Albertans to vote in an October referendum<\/a> in favour of exploring separation from Canada, said the announcement \u201cproves the problem with Confederation.\u201d The group argued a year of negotiations only led Alberta to an \u201cuncertain starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It\u00a0feels a little bit like a promise that at some point there will be a pinky swear that this will happen, and I just don’t place a lot of weight on it,\u201d said Tanya Clemens, co-chair of Let Alberta Decide.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s announcement on Thursday included a proposed pipeline route to British Columbia\u2019s southern coast to export oil to Asian markets. The federally-owned Trans Mountain Corporation is partnering on the project, with Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline acting as the private proponent.<\/p>\n

Early work on the project could begin in 2027, with its completion projected for between 2032 and 2034. More detailed funding and the cost for taxpayers \u201cremains to be negotiated,\u201d Smith said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The federal government also announced a multibillion-dollar deal<\/a> with British Columbia, which included a commitment to maintain an oil tanker ban on the province\u2019s north coast. <\/p>\n

Clemens argued too many federal conditions still plague the deal, including Ottawa calling for a proposal to be coupled with a carbon capture agreement.<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Premier Danielle Smith on new pipeline proposal:<\/p>\n

Calgary Eyeopener13:06Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on the new proposal to build a pipeline to the BC coast<\/p>\n

After much anticipation, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the province’s submission to the major projects office for a new pipeline to BC’s south coast. Premier Smith joined us to discuss the details around the proposal.<\/p>\n

But on Friday, Smith said the announcement signalled Alberta and Ottawa can co-operate constructively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demonstration that Canada and Alberta can work together is the proof point in itself. Canada and Alberta were not working very well together for the last 10 years,\u201d said Smith on CBC Radio\u2019s Calgary Eyeopener on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s demonstrated that we can take a different path that can not only support Alberta’s economic prosperity, but also be good for the country.”<\/p>\n

But Christopher Scott, CEO of Let\u2019s Talk Alberta, argued the deal still has too many hurdles that could drag out a pipeline deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of talk, lots of hype, and I think it\u2019s a means by which the federal government and the provincial government are trying to extinguish the independence movement,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll believe it when I see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott’s organization hosts conversations on Alberta independence. He said he\u2019s not a separatist, but he believes Alberta should have more authority over its own resources, which can currently only be achieved through seeking independence.<\/p>\n

Some voters won’t be convinced: Lukaszuk<\/p>\n

To some federalism supporters, Smith’s announcement signalled Confederation can still work.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk sees it. Lukaszuk, who spearheaded the Forever Canadian petition last year, said Thursday’s announcement shows why separation should not be supported. <\/p>\n

He argued that for some voters \u201chell-bent on separatism,” nothing is likely to convince them to change their vote. He argued they cannot support the pipeline proposal, because it undermines their argument that Canada cannot work.<\/p>\n

\"AThomas Lukaszuk spearheaded the ‘Alberta Forever Canada’ petition last year. (Mrinali Anchan\/CBC)<\/p>\n

But to more open-minded voters who are weighing evidence, Lukaszuk said the pipeline proposal could push them to support remaining in Canada.<\/p>\n

“This will serve as an evidence that if they ever wanted to send a message to Ottawa, the message has been sent and it has been heard,\u201d said Lukaszuk.<\/p>\n

Proposal exceeded some expectations<\/p>\n

Most Albertans were not confident<\/a> the memorandum of understanding Smith and Carney signed last year would actually result in a new pipeline, polling by Janet Brown Opinion Research for CBC News showed.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Brown said a private proponent being involved in the project, a carbon capture deal, and British Columbia not opposing the project all together ticked a lot of boxes for skeptical Albertans.<\/p>\n

She said while polling has consistently shown about 20 per cent of the population is locked into supporting separation, there is a narrow band of nine to 11 per cent of Albertans whose votes are up for grabs. Brown referred to this group as \u201csoft separatists.”<\/p>\n

If any of those voters are driven by economic concerns, Brown said the pipeline proposal is likely to give them more confidence in Confederation.<\/p>\n

“This could be proof to them that Canada can work, that Alberta can make headway [in] the things the premier has said about trying to make progress within the federation rather than without,\u201d said Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this should give soft separatists pause.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-779030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779030","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=779030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}