🍁 Alberta & Ontario Team Up: Pipelines, Trade, and Belt Buckles

Alberta and Ontario are officially besties — at least when it comes to boosting trade, building energy corridors, and sticking it to U.S. tariffs.

On Monday in Calgary, Premiers Danielle Smith and Doug Ford signed two major agreements that could change how we move oil, minerals, and even beer across Canada.

🚄 What’s in the deal?

• Feasibility study for new pipelines & rail lines: These could connect Alberta’s oil and minerals to Ontario’s ports and mineral zones like the Ring of Fire.

• Push for regulatory changes: They want Ottawa to cut red tape, especially around energy rules like emissions caps and tanker bans.

• Support for nuclear energy: Yep, nukes are back on the table as a clean energy option.

Smith says this is all about “carving a path forward” for Alberta and Canada’s economy. Ford says Canada needs to stop depending on the U.S. and start depending on each other.

And yes — they want any new projects to use Ontario steel. Gotta keep it in the family, right?

🍻 Cars, booze, and real talk

In the second agreement, Ontario agrees to buy more Alberta booze 🍺, and Alberta promises to add more Canadian-made cars (hello, Ontario auto industry 🚗) to its government fleet.

Ford even said, “This is how we protect Canada.”

But not everyone’s cheering.

Environmental groups say the move ignores climate concerns, and Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi says Smith should focus on real trade barriers — like labour standards, building codes, and trucking rules — not just photo ops and pancakes.

Speaking of pancakes…

🥞 A Stampede-style handshake

Before the signing, Smith and Ford flipped flapjacks at Smith’s Stampede breakfast. She gave him a shiny Stampede belt buckle, and Ford almost had a wardrobe malfunction reattaching it (again — it happened the day before too).

They both laughed. Smith even joked with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe about Ford’s pants falling down during a speech. 😅

🎯 What this means:

Big picture? Alberta and Ontario are tightening ties — and whether you love it or loathe it, it could shape everything from energy infrastructure to your next bottle of local wine.

But the real question: Is this collaboration the start of real progress, or just a political rodeo with pancakes on the side?