Tuning in this morning as Premier Jason Kenney is set to formally respond to yesterday's Speech from the Throne. Kenney issued a written statement last night that criticized it for a lack of explicit support for the oil and gas sector. #ableg #cdnpoli https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=733086643FF90-A360-2B84-6B02F5C2E4977088

Presser is now underway. There seemed to be a bit of a delay on the phone, so the very first thing I hear is Kenney saying "I have not had a full-time job in two years." He is quoting somebody.

Reiterating what he said in his prior statement, about there not being any words about oil and gas. Similar to what MP Cooper tweeted yesterday as well. https://twitter.com/Cooper4SAE/status/1308855917597818880

Says Trudeau used "kooky academic theories" to try and gain votes through the speech. Adds it presented policies that will just hurt the oil and gas sector further. Says, instead, they should be focused on doing no harm to the sector. Harm reduction, if you will...

"A fantasy plan for a mythical country that only exists for Ottawa liberals and Laurentian elites."

Says we should be focused on export cash, and we cannot export solar and wind energy and therefore it does not matter as much. Adds the energy sector has been the "great engine of social mobility."

Going into a bit about how Alberta's economy has supported other provinces through the fiscal stabilization plan. "Alberta was not recognized in yesterday's throne speech," other than vague mentions of "phasing out" the energy sector.

On the net-zero emissions goals, Kenney says Trudeau needs to recognize that oil and gas companies are helping reduce emissions. Drops a "pie in the sky ideological schemes" quip that he first quoted in response to a question of mine about the GND

Some talk about mining now, and how the feds don't seem to be ready to greenlight mining projects. Says it is a "canary in the coal mine" that Ottawa does not intend to further support mining industry.

Says the UCP is doing everything it can to attract new investment into the province. Conversations ongoing with global companies to bring in billions of dollars and thousands of jobs, especially in petrochemicals and fertilizer production.

But, these jobs would be in jeopardy if the feds keep moving towards clean fuel standards goals. Says otherwise, these products -- like fertilizers -- will be coming from dictatorships.

As a member of Harper's government, Kenney says he agreed with a philosophy of not giving support to individual sectors. But in the '08 economic crash, they made the difficult decision to bail out the auto companies. Says this should happen again for O&G

Too many abstract projections in the speech, he says. And the speech represents a "full frontal attack" on federalism, and policies could invade provincial jurisdiction. Accuses the government of seeking to breach the constitution, essentially.

Kenney will also be speaking to other premiers today about the speech and plans to issue a communique today or tomorrow. Believes many of his colleagues share his aspects of disappointment.

Questions are up now. Rick Bell leads it off. "With this latest bad news from Ottawa...is it time to change your strategy?"

Kenney says they will update the strategy to ensure they are always fighting back. They're ready to work together, but on the big picture they don't agree

Says the feds are ignoring them on the question of how to prop up the O&G sector. Believes they are making climate commitments without taking the opinion of Kenney and Alberta into account.

This is why, he says, they are suing Ottawa over the carbon tax and C-69. Going to push them further on the Fair Deal Panel's recommendations, including equalization reform and provincial police.

From @tylerrdawson, any response to commitments over pharmacare and day care, and if this jives with plans to pull out of federal cost sharing. Kenney says they would pull out of pharmacare, would want an equivalent cash transfer.

Thinks that is akin to the feds micromanaging health care. Takes this to accuse Ottawa of failing to manage COVID properly, and that they mimicked China in the early days.

Says Alberta has a mental health crisis (we saw opioid death numbers yesterday), and they are managing that. He says they just want more health care transfers to the provinces, not something like a pharmacare program.

On child care, he is confident in an Alberta plan as well and he is concerned about indications of federal standards and thinks it won't be well-received by premiers.

From @CTVchrisepp, some businesses in Alberta seem happy with the speech, so who do you speak for? Kenney says yes, maybe there's some individual things they support. But his message is that there is a major economic crisis and they don't want bailouts, just don't do harm.

(I believe he just indicated he wanted bailouts similar to the auto sector in '08?)

In a throne speech of this size (he believes its the longest ever, would like to know if that's true) they just want more explicit support for oil and gas.

. @DavidStaplesYEG asks about tax breaks for clean tech companies, and if the feds can actually get a million jobs through this plan. There's no time commitment here, so Kenney says it's just a talking point. Over time, there will be a return to growth so he dismisses this.

Repeating what he said earlier about net-zero emissions, and that it is the oil and gas sector that is helping reduce emissions. Yes, they create the most amount of emissions, but he thinks the industry is taking it very seriously.

But these companies won't benefit from tax cuts, so this won't assist the sector. Says how the TIER plan is helping, while also ensuring more production of fossil fuels. Believes they can get biggest bang for the buck on fighting climate change by helping O&G sector.

Says the speech sounds like it was written by people who worked for the Tides Foundation. Thinks they are taking the COVID crisis as a chance to hurt the sector.

. @AndrewLawton from TrueNorth asking about Kenney's thoughts on "attacks of federalism". Premier says they are moving ahead with further court fights, like the carbon tax challenge, they are prepared for more fights like this. "We will go to the wall to defend the Constitution."

Says Alberta is not a caricature of inward looking people, but rather "big Canadians." Essentially indicated that he and his government have the country's best interests in mind here. But the feds need to respect Alberta more.

Says the speech was an inversion of the original vision of federation. Says Trudeau's father had a better idea of respecting provincial jurisdiction and the PM is interfering too much.

Final question from @Jantafrench, lots of repeated messaging here on oil and gas, but we have seen companies moving away from traditional fossil fuels, and mentions California commitment to move away from combustion vehicles. Does this affect your vision?

Kenney says the transportation sector is not where fossil fuels are largely consumed. He says people looking to immigrate from India won't be driving Teslas when they get here. People in energy poverty will be "burning cow dung" than abiding piety from California.

Talking about how production should be going up, and even in the most bearish scenario, there will be only a minor decrease in consumption by 2040. Still a demand for the resources, and says it should be coming from Alberta.

Says Janet missed the point here, and this is about wider economic gains with projects that relate to the petrochemical sector. Companies seem to be telling Kenney he is doing the right things (like tax breaks and red tape reduction), but the feds are the problem.

Companies are telling Kenney that why would they go to Alberta, they would rather go down to Texas. Apparently they also have qualms about banning single-use plastics.

Not about oil and gas, it's about value added diversification in other traditional sectors. Closing by saying that the speech implied new federal spending, and asks how we pay for that. Answer, he says, is to spur growth in the energy sector.

And that's all folks. Kenney says more will come after his chat with other premiers.