Alberta’s Opposition NDP leader says Premier Danielle Smith’s plan for a new pipeline has his support, but he’s calling on her to be honest about how much taxpayers could be on the hook for.
Naheed Nenshi says he doesn’t see public financing as a deal-breaker, but he’d like to see more private involvement.
Nenshi says if the business case makes sense, “there’s space” for taxpayer cash to get the bitumen pipeline to the B.C. coast in the ground.
Smith announced Thursday that her United Conservative Party government had submitted to Ottawa a finalized route with builders on board for the pipeline.
It stems from an energy accord she signed last year with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The pipeline would run from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, to the southern B.C. coast, delivering more than one million barrels per day to be shipped to Asian markets.
The private sector stake in the project is pegged at 10 per cent, but Smith said things could change as the project progresses and Indigenous groups sign on.
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
