Two oil cars with the words Alberta written on the side
Politics

MLAs pitch strong relationships, better infrastructure and ‘awfully blurred’ borders to secure Alberta’s economic future

By George Lee, The Macleod Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Alberta should leverage trade, diversify industry and improve corridors to entrench the landlocked province as a pivotal economic player, the legislature heard this week.

Shane Getson, the UCP’s parliamentary secretary for economic corridor development, envisioned a near-future Alberta with strengthened ties — physical and otherwise — in all directions.

A self-described expansionist, the member for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland painted a picture of Alberta with “awfully blurred” borders with the territories to its north.

Justin Wright, meanwhile, talked up an existing economic history with the American Midwest, saying Alberta has taken a “proactive approach to strengthening our trade relationship with the U.S.”

Wright, the UCP member for Cypress-Medicine Hat, said the regional U.S. bond is especially important in an uncertain and shifting global economy. 

The Midwest and Alberta share “a deep connection that has been driven into our history of co-operation, integrated supply chain and shared economic interests,” Wright said.

Wright tied much of Alberta’s economic success to the province’s membership in the Council of State Governments Midwest, one of four CSG regions. The nonpartisan regional grouping of 11 states counts four provinces as affiliate members — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

CSG “fosters the interstate exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy,” it says on its website. The group “offers unparalleled regional, national and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate and create problem-solving partnerships.”

Wright told his legislature colleagues: “We are proud to be a responsible and reliable supplier of energy, agriculture and forestry products that help power homes, support manufacturing and strengthen food security across the Midwest. At the same time Alberta benefits from innovation, manufacturing capacity and market access to the Midwest states.”

More than half of Alberta’s U.S. exports go to the Midwest. Trade between Alberta and Midwest states accounts for $70 billion of $127 billion in annual Alberta-U.S. trade.

Roughly 60 per cent of the crude oil imported by the U.S. originates in Alberta. In Robinson, Ill., a single petroleum refinery gets nearly 100 per cent of its crude from Alberta.

Getson’s Alberta has tariff-free foreign trade zones, preapproved industrial zones and well-placed pipes and rails connecting it to the rest of the West, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Hudson Bay.

He sees the province doing far more than exporting raw commodities, even saying there’s a manufacturing growth opportunity in the supply chain for components used to build ships.

“I see trading partners investing here not just for spot pricing or purchases; I see them helping us build the infrastructure we need for long-term security for food, energy and technology,” he said.

“With all of this, we’d reach our full potential,” Getson said, “collaborating, developing resources responsibly (and) becoming destinations for investment partnership for years to come.”

The MLAs’ statements came before progress was announced Friday between the federal government and the province to get a pipeline built to the West Coast, stemming from a November memorandum of understanding signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith.

The two leaders agreed in Calgary that Alberta will raise to $130 per tonne by 2040 the price big industries pay to emit greenhouse gases.

At a press conference, Carney and Smith said Alberta will submit a comprehensive proposal for a bitumen pipeline to Asian markets to Canada’s Major Project Office by July 1, 2026.

Also, Canada will pursue getting the pipeline proposal designated a project of national interest under the Building Canada Act by Oct. 1, but the process includes consulting Indigenous peoples and engaging with B.C.

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Top image credit: Two ‘Alberta’ rail cars carrying an oil, gas or other liquid – Photo by Dick Thompson via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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