Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant and Chief Editor Sheila Gunn Reid were in Edmonton on Thursday, where Premier Danielle Smith was speaking to reporters after signing a memorandum of understanding alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The agreement creates the conditions to allow for new pipeline developments starting in Alberta and to the Pacific coast in British Columbia, though it has garnered criticism from some like independence advocate Jeffrey Rath, co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project.

“There's a lot of things that have got nothing to do with pipelines and everything to do with green payoffs, like carbon capture and carbon tax,” said Ezra. Sheila agreed, considering herself a “skeptic” of the deal, highlighting British Columbia's threat of pursuing legal action against any project.

The Rebel News pair raised their concerns to Premier Smith during her press conference, asking four tough questions.

Sheila asked the premier about Carney granting B.C. the right to seek a veto against any pipeline developments. “There's no mention of veto” in the memorandum of understanding, Smith responded.

Rebel News Chief Reporter @SheilaGunnReid asks Premier Smith about a potential B.C. veto over a new pipeline project in Alberta

"There's no mention of veto," Smith asserts, acknowledging the need for the provinces and Ottawa to work together on future developments. pic.twitter.com/OfH7OIobP8

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 27, 2025

“There obviously has to be trilateral discussions with British Columbia to find areas of common ground and I think we will.”

Sheila also pressed the premier on whether Carney could invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure a project is approved. “This is federal jurisdiction, transborder pipelines, transborder infrastructure, ports. Those are all federal jurisdiction,” Smith stated, rejecting the necessity of using the legal measure.

.@SheilaGunnReid asks @ABDanielleSmith if Mark Carney has provided any assurances that he would use constitutional means to prevent a proposed oil pipeline project from being delayed by lawsuits from the B.C. government. pic.twitter.com/MXsY03ENtD

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 27, 2025

Ezra questioned Smith about the Carney Liberals looking to raise carbon taxes on Alberta while promising a pipeline would be developed in the future.

“We did have the Supreme Court of Canada rule on the federal government's ability to set a price on emissions,” Smith said. “We understand that there was always going to be a negotiation around that,” she continued.

“We froze the carbon tax at $95, pending consultation with the industry and greater work with the prime minister,” the premier said, noting Alberta was “the first to have an industrial carbon price” in 2007, “generating revenues that have allowed us to invest billions of dollars in new technology, including carbon capture.”

The premier explained the oil and gas industry does have “a commitment” to a carbon price and was “glad to have the means to manage it our way in Alberta under our TIER program.”

Ezra also asked the premier had been convinced if the prime minister had turned on his lengthy history of anti-oil views, given his recent remarks that pipelines were a “boring” topic.

“I hope that we can make pipelines boring again,” Smith replied. “It's just a way to get our product to the consumers who need it,” she said, stating public controversy surrounding oil and gas was overblown.

🚨@EzraLevant asks Premier @ABDanielleSmith about the province's new agreement with the Carney Liberals to 'support' an oil pipeline to the B.C. coast, noting it requires Alberta to raise carbon taxes now while a pipeline may not be constructed for a decade or longer. pic.twitter.com/27syiNTVbb

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 27, 2025

She also said improvements in carbon capture technology were something that caught her attention.

“I've seen with the passage of time, the investments being made, and the fact that the technology works — and we're getting better and better at it, and you can create a product out of it, including so that you can enhance oil recovery. I changed my mind.”

Using herself as an example, Smith suggested Carney had “maybe” changed his opinion on the importance of oil and gas following the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine and turmoil in the oil-rich Middle East.

“I won't lie, I'm a little bit hopeful,” said Ezra upon the press conference's conclusion. “But I also am 53 years old and have seen this battle since I was a child growing up in Calgary.”

Failure to build a pipeline following the signing between Smith and Carney would “rip this country right open,” Sheila added.

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