Danielle Smith’s pipeline clears another hurdle after deal with Mark Carney. Now, who will build it?

Wanted: a private company ready to commit billions of dollars to build a major oil pipeline.

The prime minister himself says he is on the lookout and even quipped on Thursday to a Calgary business crowd, “If you know of one in the room, come see us afterwards.”

Mark Carney was delivering a speech when he made the offhand comment, following a series of events in the city after joining Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in signing a preliminary deal to pursue a new oil export pipeline from Alberta to the North Coast of British Columbia.

The agreement also calls for developing nuclear power, pursuing AI data centres and supporting a multi-billion-dollar carbon-capture project, among other details.

For its part, the federal government is providing exceptions to many environmental policies such as the B.C. tanker ban and the oilpatch emissions cap. 

That’s why the spotlight is now on Smith to see if she can actually get her pipeline idea off the ground.

She campaigned for Carney to ditch several environmental policies and while he didn’t outright scrap them, he did enough to put the ball in her court to see if a new pipeline can be developed and built.

So far, a few hurdles have been overcome on a long and complicated road ahead.

Speaking to a packed crowd of energy executives, Carney was greeted at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce with multiple standing ovations. 

It’s a scene that would’ve been hard to picture a year ago, when his predecessor Justin Trudeau was sinking in the polls and locked in a battle with Smith over environmental laws. 

Times have certainly changed.  

If anyone in the crowd had been asked a year ago if there was any chance of Alberta’s premier convincing the prime minister to soften major environmental laws as part of deal to pave the way for a new pipeline, "none of us would have taken that bet,” said Deborah Yedlin, president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. 

Last month, Smith unveiled plans for the Alberta government to develop and submit a formal application to the federal major projects office for an oil pipeline. 

Helping the government is a "technical advisory group" that includes three major pipeline companies — Enbridge, South Bow and Trans Mountain — although those companies would not necessarily be involved if the project were to proceed.