EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition. Smith, in a livestream address Monday, said she wants a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada but there is a growing number of Albertans who are unhappy with Confederation, and are organizing petitions to push for an exit. “The vast majority of these individuals are not fringe voices to be marginalized or vilified. They [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta's government is seeking a court ruling on the constitutionality of Ottawa's clean electricity grid regulations. The regulations, finalized late last year, lay out a plan to decarbonize electricity grids across Canada by 2050. Premier Danielle Smith, who invoked her controversial sovereignty act for the first time in 2023 against draft versions of the regulations that aimed for a clean grid by 2035, says regardless of the timeline Ottawa's goals are too far-fetched and [Read more]

TORONTO - RBC says it is scrapping its sustainable finance commitment and holding back on other climate disclosures in part because of regulatory changes. The bank says in its latest sustainability report that, following an evolution in industry practices, it has concluded that its methodology "may not have appropriately measured" some of its sustainable finance activities. It says its conclusion, as well as amendments to Canada's Competition Act that set expectations around environmental [Read more]

CALGARY - The industry group representing Canada's oil and gas service contractors has laid out its top priorities for the Liberal government in Ottawa, which held onto power in Monday's federal election. The Canadian Association of Energy Contractors says both the Liberals and the Conservatives recognized the need to grow oil and gas development during the campaign. The group says Canada must immediately expand infrastructure projects that strengthen the country's energy and economic [Read more]