Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is trying to mend fences with B.C. Premier David Eby using a western-themed gift, she admitted Thursday.
During a fireside chat with Deborah Yedlin of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Smith was asked about her relationship with Eby, especially after recent comments made by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“I’m seeing Premier Eby this weekend – it might be a little awkward because we’re hosting the western premiers’ conference here,” she said.
Yedlin asked if she thought he would show up, to which Smith replied, “Well, I bought him a pair of boots – he’s going to show up at least for the boots.”
“He told me he was looking forward to those.”
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On Wednesday, Carney met with Eby, reaching an agreement where the two would negotiate B.C.’s economic priorities and Ottawa’s job in promoting national development projects.
At a later meeting with business leaders, Carney said while the government is open to “adjust to what people want,” Canada is “a big country.”
“There’s lots of things going on. Life’s about time management,” Carney said.
“But if things get stalled here, we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country because we need to move forward. We need to invest at scale in the country.”
Tense relationship between premiers
Last year, when Smith and Carney signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast, the relationship between the two premiers became tense.
Eby, at the time the MOU was signed, questioned why Alberta’s needs were stronger than any other Canadian province’s, a comment that Smith said was “un-Canadian.”
“It’s not the Danielle Smith Show – it’s the Canadian team,” Eby told the media.
Since then, the relationship has become more friendly through trilateral meetings between the premiers and Carney.
In January, Eby said Alberta is committed to keeping B.C. in the loop on the project’s progress. He also emphasized the importance of the Smith government to engage with affected First Nations communities.
He said both he and Smith will not let their differences get in the way of “matters of shared interest.”
B.C. wants to work with Alberta: Smith
During Thursday’s fireside chat, Smith said Carney understands Canadians are “in a different frame of mind now.”
“We don’t want to hear what you’re against; we want to hear what you’re for. I think that really captured the moment that we’re in now.
“Premier Eby has done that. He wants to build inter-ties with us, he wants to invest in ways to take our surplus power.
“He wants to work with us.”
Eby’s one hang-up for the past 10 years, Smith says, is Alberta bitumen.
“I think the prime minister is using a lot of political capital to really push that message ahead. I’m grateful for it.
“It also gives confidence to Albertans that even though there might have been some concern that the policies of the previous administration were going to get carried forward, I think that we’re seeing a 180 on a lot of them.”
CTV News has reached out to Eby’s office for comment on this story.
