It was Premier Rachel Notley’s turn to drum up optimism for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Red Deer on Monday, days after her Minister of Economic Development and Trade paid a visit to central Alberta.

In a 25-minute speech to the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce at the Black Knight Inn, Notley said the federal government’s decision to buy the Kinder Morgan pipeline for $4.5 billion and build the expansion gives the project certainty.

The Premier was confident that the federal government would not be “intimidated by attempts to harass investors that we have seen over the last (few) years or more, whether by demonstrators or more importantly, by a provincial government.”

That, would be referring to the Government of British Columbia, which has vowed to stop the project, which would triple the amount of oil travelling from Strathcona County, Alta. to Burnaby, B.C.

For its part, the Alberta Government will commit up to $2 billion to indemnify the project, payable once oil is flowing through the pipeline, Notley said. That investment would then be converted into an equity stake.

Currently, she said the country’s energy infrastructure is built for export to the United States, which is able to buy Canadian oil at a discount.

“That is bad for Canada. So every Canadian has a stake in getting top dollar for our resources. When we hold this industry back, we actually hold Canada back,” Notley said.

Notley said that according to Scotiabank economists, Canada’s failure to build new pipelines results in $15 billion of lost economic activity every year.

To demonstrate how the project is in the national interest, she said that Alberta sends more than $5,000 per person to Ottawa than it receives back in services. By comparison, British Columbia contributes $886 per person; Ontario, $650 per person; Saskatchewan, $550 per person.

“It is clear that all of Canada relies on a strong energy industry,” Notley said, adding that Alberta can balance economic growth with action on climate change.

'Cautiously optimistic,' says chamber CEO

The chamber’s CEO Robin Bobocel said he found the Premier’s comments upbeat, adding that he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the pipeline expansion will be built.

However, he was concerned about what the final price tag will be.

“There is apprehension any time government is involved in a project of this type, that costs are going to go up, productivity’s going to go down. I hope that’s not the case,” Bobocel said. “We’re watching very closely to see if the ($7.4 billion) in construction costs … actually cost that or exceed that.”

Locally, he said the economic activity generated would give business owners confidence.

“That means, there’s an opportunity for our business community to make plans for growth. They’ll have a more stable environment to operate in and I think that’s going to be good for everybody,” he said.