If Canada wants to lead global efforts on energy security, build a sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure, increase funding for social programs and national defense, and expand trade to new markets, we must unlock the full potential of our vast natural resources and embrace our role as a global energy superpower.
Energy agreement between Alberta and Ottawa
is the first step towards achieving all of these critical goals.
Recent polls show that a majority of Canadians support this agreement and the major economic opportunities it could bring to the benefit of all Canadians.
As a nation, we must accept two important realities: first, global oil demand is rising, and second, Canada needs to generate more revenue to solve its financial problems.
Countries around the world, including Korea, Japan, India, Taiwan and China in Asia, as well as various European countries, continue to request
. We are ideally positioned to meet these needs and lead global efforts for energy security.
Our
It is not only rich, but also responsibly developed, geopolitically stable and backed by decades of proven reserves.
If we want to pay off our debt, increase funding for social programs and meet our
obligations, then we need to generate more income. And the best way to do this is to use our vast natural resources.
At today's prices, Alberta's proven oil and gas reserves are worth trillions of dollars.
It's not just a number; This is an opportunity for generations of Albertans and Canada to build prosperity and invest in the future of our communities. But to unlock the full potential of this resource, we need an infrastructure that matches our ambitions.
There is one nation-building project that surpasses all others in its ability to bring economic benefits to Canada.
to Asian markets.
The energy agreement signed on November 27 includes a clear path to building a bitumen pipeline with a capacity of more than one million barrels per day under joint First Nations ownership that can ensure that our province and country will no longer be dependent on a single buyer to purchase our most valuable resource.
Indigenous co-ownership also generates millions in income for communities along the project's route to the northwest coast, promoting long-term prosperity for their communities.
The agreement also recognizes that we can increase oil and gas production while reducing emissions.
Lifting caps on oil and gas emissions will allow our energy producers to grow and prosper again, and the suspension of federal net-zero regulation in Alberta will open the door to major investments in artificial intelligence data centers.
It also means Alberta will become a global leader in developing and implementing emissions reduction infrastructure, particularly carbon capture and storage.
Under the agreement, Alberta will work with our federal partners and Pathways to begin and complete the world's largest carbon capture, utilization and storage project.
This would make Alberta's heavy crude the lowest-emitting barrel on the market and displace millions of barrels of heavier-emitting fuels around the world.
We are sending a clear message to investors around the world: Alberta and Canada are leaders not only in oil and gas, but also in innovation and technology that reduce emissions per barrel even as production increases.
Where we are going – and where we intend to go more often – is east, west, north and south, across the oceans and around the globe. We have energy that other countries need and will need in the coming decades.
However, this agreement is only the first step on this path. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us. Trust must be built and earned in this partnership as we move through the next steps of this process.
But it is very encouraging that the Prime Minister
has made it clear that he is committed to working with the Government of Alberta to achieve our shared goal of making Canada an energy superpower.
This is something we haven't seen from a Canadian Prime Minister in over a decade.
Together, in good faith, Alberta and Ottawa have taken the first step toward making Canada a global energy superpower for the benefit of all Canadians.
