Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Alberta will pull out of the Pan Canadian framework on climate action, "until the federal government gets its act together" on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Notley was responding to today's Federal Court of Appeal decision quashing the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
That doesn't mean Alberta is scrapping it's own carbon tax. But Notley said the Trudeau government is "losing another ally" when it comes to supporting its national carbon pricing scheme.
This morning, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the order in council made in 2016 that approved the $7.4 billion twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is key to getting Alberta oil to both American and foreign markets.
As a result of the decision, work on the expansion is being halted.
"Albertans are angry," Notley said in a press conference today. "I am angry. Alberta has done everything right, and we have been let down.
"The combined result of the actions taken by the Harper government, the current federal government, the National Energy Board and the Federal Court of Appeal means that the current state of affairs in Canada right now is such that building a pipeline to tidewater is practically impossible. As a result, our ability to transport our most profitable commodity is subject to the whims of the White House and the U.S. government."
She referred to the fact that almost all of the oil exported from Alberta goes to a single market – the U.S.
Alberta has been a key ally for the Trudeau government in its efforts to put a price on carbon as part of its national climate action plan. The Trudeau government needs allies like Alberta, given that Ontario and Saskatchewan are challenging the Trudeau government's carbon pricing scheme.
"Let's be clear – without Alberta that plan isn't worth the paper it's written on," Notley said.
She called on the Trudeau government to appeal today's decision to the Supreme Court of Canada and immediately call an emergency session of Parliament.
"If the federal government acts boldly and gives this crisis the attention it deserves, construction can restart early in the New Year," Notley said. "This absolutely needs to happen because today's decision by the court should put fear in the heart of any government or any investor who wants to export non-renewable resources from Canada, including, I might say, LNG on the West Coast."
