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It was almost the first time Ontario had stood beside Alberta when it comes to more pipelines, advocating for them instead of opposing them. The two premiers even signed a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of pushing pipelines and railroads across Canada.

Will Prime Minister Mark Carney be impressed? That’s a question that has yet to be answered although he did say in Calgary while flipping pancakes at the Stampede that  a pipeline will make it onto the project list expected this fall.

But it doesn’t yet have a private sector proponent, although Smith is out beating the bushes for one. And there is still her list of demands to be met. They include: lifting the tanker ban on the West Coast; and dropping the carbon emissions, clean electricity regulations, and Environmental Assessment Act. No pipeline company would place a bet on a new venture until those conditions are met, according to Smith.

So Carney has to wipe out climate change laws and regulations before a pipeline can go ahead? That would seem to go against his climate change principles as outlined in his book, “Values: Building a Better World for All.” Unless of course, because circumstances have changed, he simply didn’t mean what he wrote. It was just convenient at the time.

And what’s the math for building new oil pipelines? Ford talked about one going to James Bay in Ontario. But no First Nations have been properly consulted. And besides, the water may not be deep enough for a port. And then there’s a pipeline to B.C., where there is still a tanker ban and Premier David Eby doesn’t seem keen to lift it. And there’s the pipeline directly to southern Ontario so it could skip the need to rely on Line 5, which detours into the northern U.S.

“The regulatory burden is ridiculous,” said Ford at a press conference. He then said “we could be Saudi Arabia,” attributing the quote to an unnamed Indigenous person.

The other thing that is still unsure is how much other countries are willing to take of Alberta’s oil, such as China and India.  that China will reach peak oil by the end of the decade, maybe even as early as 2027. India might be a good market but for how long? Will we be building pipelines to nowhere?

It will be at least five years before any one of them becomes a reality. Nevertheless, Smith talks blithely about markets in Asia without producing any numbers to back up her claim.

And then there’s the threat of separation hanging over all this. Is Smith going to conduct a provincial referendum on separation from the rest of Canada while negotiations for a pipeline are underway? Since any pipeline has to go through other provinces surely she needs the rest of Canada. The threat of separation with an encouraging nod from Smith doesn’t seem very smart when you need the rest of Canada to get one.

It seems to me Carney is going to have to change his stance on climate change issues. And Smith is going to have to forego some of her longstanding grievances against Ottawa and her demands regarding the impact of climate change regulations on the oil and gas industry. Never mind her dance with the separatists inside her caucus, who are threatening her hold on the United Conservative Party leadership.

How are Carney and Smith going to achieve singleness of purpose without looking like opportunistic politicians? Well, there’s still a lot to be sorted out before anyone puts shovels in the ground for a new pipeline. And despite Doug Ford’s best efforts in Calgary and Danielle Smith’s Cheshire Cat smile it won’t be built overnight. No matter what they say.