B.C. premier renews invite to sit down with Alberta’s premier on pipeline

VICTORIA – B.C. Premier Christy Clark has invited her Alberta counterpart for a sit-down discussion about the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline when Clark is in Calgary next week.

But the invitation to Alison Redford, contained in a letter released publicly today, isn’t a request for a thaw in the relationship that grew frosty over Enbridge Inc.’s (TSX:ENB) project.

In fact, the second sentence of Clark’s letter reminds the Alberta premier that Northern Gateway would require a significant number of permits from British Columbia before the pipeline proceeds.

Clark finishes the letter by saying she is aware of the pipeline’s benefits to Alberta and recognizes that the province would like to pursue them.

Over the summer, Clark announced B.C. would be looking for a greater share of revenue from the project to offset what she said was a disproportionate risk to her province’s environment if Northern Gateway goes ahead.

Redford said in August that she has nothing to discuss with Clark about sharing Alberta’s revenues from the project and maintains what Clark is proposing would amount to a rewriting of Canada’s constitution.