Premier Alison Redford focuses energy on selling Alberta's oil and gas in global markets

What a difference a premier makes!

Unlike Ed Stelmach, who didn’t quite connect the dots on the importance of the energy sector to the provincial economy, Premier Alison Redford understands unequivocally that Alberta’s fortunes are inextricably tied to a healthy energy sector.

Redford, in an interview with the Calgary Herald Friday, made it very clear that “energy is one of the files I have to stay closest to.”

And that includes Alberta’s ambitions with respect to development of clean energy.

While some might draw conclusions on what this means for Energy Minister Ted Morton, it’s clear Redford is thinking about Alberta’s position as an energy supplier from two key perspectives: the role it plays as part of the global supply chain and the need to reinforce its robust regulatory regime on the national and international stage.

This should be music to Daniel Yergin’s ears. The Pulitzer Prize winning author who recently published “The Quest”, said a better job needed to be done to dispel a widely-held notion that Alberta’s environmental regulations are not strong enough.

The regulatory record is going to be one of the messages Redford will deliver in New York and Washington, D.C., when she visits both cities during the second week of November.

The intent of the meetings is to introduce Premier Redford to individuals who understand and are supportive of Alberta’s position in the context of U.S. energy security. She is also going to meet with other stakeholders, including some non-governmental organizations to explore how to engage them differently — not to mention examine the gaps that need closing regarding the pipeline issues.

“We have to be very cautious — it’s not helpful to be a bull in a china shop,” she said.

One has to believe that a premier offering a measured, intelligent response to criticisms about the oilsands will give less ammunition to environmental organizations that have made a business out of attacking the oilsands.

It all has to be seen as a breath of fresh air — because there’s a decidedly non-confrontational air when Redford talks about what needs to be accomplished, in spite of the toxic rhetoric that continues to be heard south of the border.

It’s also particularly timely, given the renewed opposition regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline which could defer its approval.

Presumably, Redford will make the point that rejecting Keystone is a boost to the export options off the coast of British Columbia.

“If Keystone isn’t approved, it’s got to be (Northern) Gateway. We also have to look at Kinder Morgan (TransMountain pipeline) because they have a regulatory corridor which allows for expansion,” she said.

Should that happen, the U.S. would lose its first call on Canadian crude — something that is less than desirable because it would go against the goal of increasing the country’s energy security. A fine irony that would be — Republicans against Keystone in Nebraska undercutting the broad Republican agenda of achieving energy security. Then again, that is the current state of U.S. politics.

The other option for Alberta, in the absence of export markets, would be to seek to increase the amount of upgrading in the province.

That’s not something Redford is sold on; if it doesn’t make economic sense from a private sector standpoint, as far as Redford is concerned, the same argument holds from the government perspective.

But in as much as Redford is casting an eye southward, she is also looking east to Ontario and Quebec on the issue of a national energy strategy. To that end, Redford has had discussions with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec’s Jean Charest.

“We need to redefine what a national energy strategy looks like and we need to make the case why this matters not just to Alberta, but to Canada. The Kananaskis Summit (in July) didn’t do what it needed to do for Alberta.”

Not only did it lack a plan to get to a national strategy that would encompass everything from regulatory streamlining, development of export markets and support energy research and development, an element of provincial discord quickly emerged. It didn’t take long for Ontario to object to language in the initial “action plan” released at the end of the summit describing oilsands production as “responsible and sustainable” while Quebec objected because energy resources are a provincial jurisdiction and it clearly isn’t interested in any sort of external tinkering with its own energy policy.

For this reason, Redford believes Alberta must take the lead on the national energy file.

“We can’t just respond, we have to take the initiative.”

When Peter Lougheed led this province, he saw Alberta in the role of nation-builder. Seems Redford is taking a lead from his example set four decades ago.

Not only does it suit her, it suits the province and how it has changed in the last 40 years.

Deborah Yedlin is a Herald columnist.

dyedlin@calgaryherald.com