One day after a visibly frosty photo opportunity with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is in Calgary to talk about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
In stark comparison with past meetings, the tension between the two leaders in Edmonton on Wednesday was apparent as they made brief statements to the media before their closed-door session.
When she left less than an hour later, Notley was asked by reporters how the meeting was.
“It was,” the premier said.
According to a news release, Notley met Thursday with her Market Access Task Force, a group made up of ministers and deputy ministers as well as industry representatives, former government officials and academics.
In addition, her office said she met with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers earlier in the day.
The ruling
Notley has been calling for the federal government to take urgent steps to get the project back on track after a Federal Court of Appeal ruling last Thursday that stopped work on the pipeline.
“We absolutely cannot be held hostage to a regulatory merry-go-round that never ends,” Notley said on Wednesday.
In the wake of the ruling, she pulled the province out of the federal climate plan.
Trudeau, for his part, did not bow to pressure to provide immediate answers during his visit to Alberta.
“We’re looking at various options, including legislation, including appeals, and we’re also looking at what we need to do to respect what the court has laid forward as the process necessary,” he said on Wednesday, prior to his meeting with Notley.