Notley announces task force in response to Alberta-B.C. pipeline kerfuffle

Alberta Premier Rachel Notleyannounced Friday she's creating a task force to firm up what measures could be taken in response toB.C.'s proposed restrictions ondiluted bitumen shipments.

Notleysaid former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna, formerdeputy prime minister Anne McLellan, former Syncrude Canada president Jim Carter and legal scholar Peter Hoggwill be among other "recognized national leaders" on the task force.

She said it will look at the economic and legal impacts of B.C.'s proposal, as well as how to persuade the province to allow pipelines to reach tidewater.

"This is a national conversation, so we need to continue to ensure it occupies the nation's attention as a topic of conversation," the premier said Friday, addressing steel workers at Tenaris Prudential, an energy supply company in Calgary.

Notley said there was no specific timeline or date set for the task force's first meetings, but she said she's spoken with individual members of the group and that she expects engagement on the issue to unfold over the following days and weeks.

The B.C. government said last week that it's considering restrictions on diluted bitumen shipments from Alberta to the coast until more environmental response studies are conducted to assess the impact of spills.

Alberta quickly responded by suspending talks to buy B.C. electricity, and then halted the import of all wine from B.C. through the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.

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Notley said Friday that anything that would result in a delay of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, whether due to regulations or the suggestion of future regulations, would be unacceptable.

"We just can't sit by, because the consequences are too great for this matter not to be addressed fully," she said.

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