Alberta’s watershed pipeline deal with Ottawa wasn’t front and centre as Premier Danielle Smith spoke with United Conservative Party faithful at their annual convention.
Smith took the stage for the first of many addresses planned for the weekend, but it wasn’t until someone in the crowd asked for clarification on Alberta’s commitments in the deal that Smith talked about it.
The premier says the accord is a clear win for Alberta and for the cabinet ministers who worked on it.
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But later, when the premier asked party supporters if they feel more confident in Canada than a few days ago, she was met with boos.
One party constituency association president, Mitch Sylvestre, says he thinks the pipeline deal is “insane,” and he doesn’t expect many UCP members will be on board.
Sylvestre says the pledge to hike industrial carbon taxes will be a hard sell for some members, especially when there’s no guarantee a pipeline will come to fruition.