Carney and Smith set for pipeline announcement in Alberta

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were scheduled to announce the next step for a proposed Alberta-to-British Columbia oil pipeline in Fort McMurray on October 1, the deadline for Ottawa to decide whether to designate the project as one of national interest. Reports published before the event did not confirm what the two leaders announced or whether the designation was granted. The Prime Minister’s Office described the appearance as an announcement about the project’s next step. The May implementation agreement between the federal and Alberta governments set October 1 as the decision deadline, according to reports on the agreement. Ottawa had said in August that it intended to move toward the designation, and Indigenous consultation was reported to be underway. A national-interest designation would place the proposal within Ottawa’s accelerated major-project framework. It would not, by itself, constitute final approval to build the pipeline. The designation process is part of a broader federal effort to move major infrastructure proposals through review, but the available information does not establish the terms of any decision announced on October 1.