Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in the City of Calgary on Thursday, speaking with leaders of Alberta’s energy industry and participating in a discussion on how to turn the tide on the falling economy.
In the meeting, the energy sector is looking for strong signals that Trudeau is serious about helping deliver its commodity to the coasts where it can be shipped to foreign markets.
A key plank in that plan is Energy East, a controversial pipeline that has drawn the ire of many along its route through Eastern Canada.
Many, including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, wants Trudeau to take a harder stance in advocating for the pipeline while Trudeau has said that he wants to let the National Energy Board do their job.
During the talks industry leaders have said that Trudeau has been mostly positive and very receptive to the idea of a need for pipelines in Canada.
There are also a number of challenges ahead, especially as the meeting comes on the heels of Suncor announcing $2B in losses in the end of 2015 and Shell saying it's profits have dropped by 44 percent.
"2015 was a solid year for us operationally," said Suncor CEO Steve Williams on Thursday. "It was a tough year because of prices. We generated enough cash to pay our sustaining capital, to pay our dividend. We generated enough cash to modestly grow the company so we are fully funding the two big growth projects."
Along with Premier Rachel Notley, the meeting included Federal Resource Minister Jim Carr and representatives from Shell, Encana, Cenovus, Husky Energy, and Canadian Resources Limited.
Trudeau will also be touring the Calgary YWCA after the meeting has wrapped up.
Calgary is his second stop on his visit to the province. On Wednesday, he met with Premier Rachel Notley one-on-one, where they discussed Alberta’s economy.
So far, thousands of workers in Alberta have lost their jobs even though the province has been continuing to supply the rest of Canada financially for years, even during the downturn.
Trudeau did say that Ottawa has fast-tracked $700M in infrastructure funding for Alberta.
“Albertans have contributed tremendously to Canada’s growth, particularly over the past 10 years,” Justin Trudeau said after meeting with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley Wednesday in Edmonton.
“Now Alberta and Albertans are facing challenging times and, quite frankly, Canadians help other Canadians when they’re facing tough times,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
That money was originally announced back in 2014 and Notley says the province will be seeing it in the coming months, but there were no details on which projects would benefit.
Notley said she also pushed Trudeau to make changes to Employment Insurance that will broaden access for laid-off energy workers.
"I asked the prime minister to consider ways to ensure employment rules make access to EI easier for Albertans and to consider the length the benefit is available," Notley told reporters.
Trudeau didn't make any commitments around EI, but noted that his party campaigned on easing access to the program in times of need.
Alberta is, however, eligible for $250M in relief from the federal government due to low oil prices.
The province has already applied for that funding, which would come from the federal stabilization fund, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau has said it’s an important first step.
Morneau has also said that there will be more actions outlined in Budget 2016.
(With files from the Canadian Press and CTVNews.ca)
