Varcoe: Two scorpions in a bottle, Alberta and feds need to get along

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Danielle Smith needs to fulfill with the premier subsequent month and focus on Ottawa’s simply transition laws — and the necessity to change the incoming invoice’s title.

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Pure Sources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson appears to be like wild: “I’ve stated repeatedly publicly that I do not like that time period.”

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Alberta’s premier needs each governments to concentrate on incentives to considerably scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions, akin to accelerating public funding in carbon seize, use and storage (CCUS) tasks.

Wilkinson says the Fed is speaking about carbon seize with Alberta and the oil spill.

Smith needs a partnership to develop the workforce for the provincial oil and gasoline business, together with rising power sectors.

Wilkinson insists the invoice is “not about taking jobs away. It is about creating jobs.”

Watching the provincial and federal governments struggle over power currently is like two scorpions caught in a bottle.

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They’re targeted on attacking, not getting issues accomplished.

Nonetheless, there appears to be some alignment right here.

Alberta Vitality Minister Peter Guthrie stated Friday he has a superb working relationship together with his federal counterpart. Whereas the 2 events should not eyeing the Simply Transition invoice, they’re speaking about different issues, akin to making a useful resource roundtable to debate points together with LNG growth, and CCUS initiatives.

Alberta’s letter is supposed to search out some mutual understanding, he instructed.

“Yesterday I spent the day with business . . . and we heard loud and clear that the business needs us to proceed to work with the federal authorities to search out widespread floor the place we will,” Guthrie stated Friday.

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“It’s kind of of an olive department to say, ‘Hey, look, we’re not stopping this.’ We’re open and keen to have conversations, however they must be honest they usually must be in regards to the matters that matter to Albertans.”

This appears to be an encouraging signal.

Smith’s letter to Justin Trudeau on Thursday might seem like reaching out to Alberta, though on nearer inspection there’s nonetheless a number of grass to cowl, stated Mount Royal College political scientist Duane Bratt.

Amongst Alberta’s requests is that Ottawa admit it will not unilaterally impose emissions targets on the oil slick and different sectors, which looks like a non-starter.

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“It was a rigorously crafted letter and on the floor it appears to be like like mitigation, however then you definitely learn the small print and it actually is not,” Bratt stated.

“It was a helpful letter for political negotiations, nevertheless it’s troublesome to barter laws that hasn’t even been launched but.”

In an interview — and a letter he co-authored and posted on Twitter to Alberta’s premier — Wilkinson appeared intent on speaking in regards to the progress the 2 sides are making, not the division between the UCP and Liberal governments don’t.

On the simply transition laws, which might be launched this 12 months, he indicated that the popular time period now’s “sustainable jobs”, which sounds much less threatening than transferring folks out of their present positions.

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“I’ve been Minister of Pure Sources for a 12 months. You will not discover me utilizing that time period for an entire vary of causes, together with the response it usually generates, not simply in Alberta, however in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador,” he stated Thursday.

“When folks say, nicely, it is about shutting down the oil and gasoline sector or taking away power jobs, I say it is truly simply the other.”

That sounds reassuring.

But main capital funding choices are nonetheless wanted in areas akin to LNG, hydrogen and carbon seize developments, which would require all sides to work collectively.

This occurred within the mid-Nineteen Nineties within the oil sands.

On the time, the federal Liberal authorities of Jean Chretien and the Alberta PC authorities of Ralph Klein agreed to introduce a brand new tax and royalty regime for the oil sands. It spurred billions of {dollars} in funding and created hundreds of jobs.

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Over the previous 12 months, the Pathways Alliance, which represents the nation’s largest oil sands producers, has referred to as for extra incentives from each ranges of presidency earlier than spending $16.5 billion on an Alberta carbon seize and storage community.

Current adjustments in the US have left Canada’s assist for CCUS — a brand new federal funding tax credit score anticipated to price the feds $2.6 billion over 5 years — uncompetitive, analysts say.

To date, every authorities factors to the opposite for any delay.

“We’re simply ready for Alberta to emerge,” Wilkinson stated.

“Alberta is aware of that — that we’re ready for them to come back ahead and we’re excited about sitting down and having that dialog as soon as they’re truly ready to make their dedication.”

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Guthrie indicated that Alberta is figuring out what advantages the prevailing royalty system will present to CCUS tasks by offsetting royalty funds by oil sands operators.

He stated particular particulars in regards to the federal funding tax credit score are nonetheless being labored out, whereas the US Inflation Discount Act has now launched larger incentives than Canada affords.

“We actually cannot transfer ahead till now we have a stable understanding of what Justin Trudeau and his staff are keen to do,” Guthrie added.

“So, no, they don’t seem to be being detained by Alberta.”

Discuss of collaboration, it appears, solely goes to this point nowadays.

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com