Deal will be signed in one year and three and a half months
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Bell: Carney agrees!
Sept. 2027 approval for construction of Alberta's west coast pipeline

We have it. A date.

Voices are saying there is a date. The federal government agrees to a date and they commit to using their best efforts to get to that date.

Sept. 1, 2027. Approval for construction of an Alberta pipeline to the west coast.

Final approval. No more hurdles. Consultations over. Carney and his people are said to be on board. This is what we are told.

We are told this is the fastest any pipeline has been approved in a very long time.

Holy Coincidence, Batman!  Sept. 1, 2027. That’s a month before the next provincial election. Let the chips fall where they may.

Earlier this week, a news report said Carney is looking at a date this fall when Carney would designate a pipeline to the west coast as being in the national interest and it would be fast-tracked.

There is now a date for that as well.

The Carney government will use all their efforts to get this west coast pipeline declared in the national interest by Oct. 1 this year.

Oct. 1. Isn’t the referendum on Alberta independence Oct. 19? I digress.

Oct. 1. That starts the clock heading to the finish line.

Then there are consultations with First Nations and there’s the final route and getting private investors.

September next year, full construction approval.

It is important to see how this had to unfold.

Albertans don’t want an industrial carbon tax imposed by Ottawa.

Carney’s industrial carbon tax is not a selling point for Alberta. Far from it.

The industrial carbon tax agreement is a compromise by Alberta. Carney and his people want it.

So what does Alberta get? What does Alberta want?

Albertans need to know a pipeline is coming — and soon.

And Carney can’t fall back on his usual word games.

Like when he says a pipeline is more likely than not, more probable than possible, but none of that is to say it’s certain.

The prime minister cannot show up in Alberta and serve up that word salad.

As you know, Alberta will submit their pipeline proposal to the feds by the end of June.

Prime Minister Mark Carney (right) meets with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in his office in Ottawa on Friday, May 8, 2026. Hyungcheol Park/Postmedia

Let’s face it.

All this talk about a memorandum of understanding, a complicated deal between the Alberta government and the Carney government being rolled out Friday, feels like so much political inside baseball.

Important stuff but still eye-glazing for many souls, including your scribbler.

But Albertans do understand one question. It is THE question.

Is Alberta getting a pipeline to the west coast and, if the answer is Yes, how long is it going to take to see those freaking shovels in the ground?

After all, in recent number-crunching by noted pollster Janet Brown, only a little more than a third of those counted were very confident or somewhat confident this deal with Carney will lead to a pipeline to the west coast.

Bell: Carney agrees! Sept. 2027, approval for construction of Alberta's west coast pipeline

You read about the headline price of the industrial carbon tax is $130 a tonne by 2035 and turn the page.

A pipeline to the west coast? Now we at least have something to chew over.

Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 29, 2026. Blair Gable/Postmedia

Pierre Poilievre, the federal Conservative leader, is not buying what Carney is selling.

Poilievre says the industrial carbon tax should be zero.

Poilievre wants a pipeline. He is holding out hope but all he hears are words from Carney. Lots of words.

Carney likes words and likes using lots of words but what they actually mean in a world where actions speak louder than words is always up for debate.

Poilievre says when Carney is in Calgary Friday shaking hands and signing papers and sitting down with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith we will all hear how much the prime minister wants to raise the industrial carbon tax.

The Conservative leader wants Carney to step up and give a permit to the pipeline to the Pacific within 100 days of getting Alberta’s application and have that pipeline be under construction before Christmas.

On Thursday we get more words from the prime minister.

He calls himself a proud Albertan though he lived here a very long time ago.

He says he is making progress for Alberta.

“We are relentlessly focused on build, build, build,” says Carney.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the jury in the court of public opinion awaits to see all the evidence.

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https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/bell-september-2027-approval-construction-pipeline-west-coast