Hour 4 of Ottawa Now for Fri. April 17th, 2026

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Friday was quick to tout the potential economic benefits of her latest pipeline deal with Prime Minister Mark Carney. Beneath those headline claims, however, is a much less visible $600-million cost. At least, that’s how much Alberta taxpayers could be asked to pay in order to prop up Smith’s new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ottawa that, among other things, promises to ratchet up carbon taxes to $130 per tonne by 2040. Under Friday’s agreement, Alberta and the feds promised to spend up to $1.2 billion toward that end, splitting the cost...