Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is all smiles at a press conference with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The premiers announced the Northern Shield, a new route for an oil pipeline from Hardisty, Ab. to Sarnia, Ont. on Monday, July 6, 2026. Dean Pilling/Postmedia

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is grooving on the Team Canada vibe this Stampede.

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First, Prime Minister Mark Carney comes to Calgary talking up Smith’s plans for a pipeline to the west coast.

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There are still many unanswered questions about that pipeline.

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Most Albertans have not figured out what’s what and how much money taxpayers will end up forking out but Carney, Captain Canada to those believing he is the smartest man in every room, shares the stage with Smith.

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Next stop! Carney could give his blessing in October to fast-tracking the pipeline followed by a construction start date in September next year.

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Holy Coincidence Batman!

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Carney’s blessing a month before Albertans vote on whether to shut down the separatist talk.

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Shovels in the ground on a pipeline a month before the Alberta election.

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But that’s just the beginning.

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Hell, there was the time when the big political news at Stampede time was when then-premier Ed Stelmach rolled back the tax hike on booze.

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But here is Ontario Premier Doug Ford back again this year with plenty of folks from the centre of the universe tagging along for the ride.

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Another pipeline plan! Ford can’t tell us much about the plan yet but he has a nifty map with a line going from Alberta to Ontario.

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A pipeline!

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The pipeline could one day go to the Atlantic! Oil to Europe!

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And a line north to Churchill, Manitoba!

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Pipelines in every direction!

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Of course the devil is in the details but you don’t need details to score a headline.

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We’re going in for the big win-win-win, says Ford. Can we get a yahoo!

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford held a joint press conference at McDougall Centre in Calgary on Monday, July 6, 2026. Brent Calver/Postmedia

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Wasn’t so long ago, March 10 of last year, when your scribbler pointed out how Smith dropped a bomb on Ford and Team Canada after the Ontario premier suggested it just might be a swell idea to have a tax on Alberta oil and gas heading to the U.S.

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Smith hit the roof, ripped Ford and anyone daring to float such a trial balloon attacking Alberta.

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Smith was called a traitor and a Trump bootlicker by the Elbows Up crowd, only 10 days after comedian Mike Myers first did the Elbows Up gesture.

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Now Ford appears at a gathering of Alberta conservatives and they’re rushing to take pictures of him like he’s Katy Perry.

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Premier Smith speaks to your scribbler about the many billions flowing into the Alberta treasury with new pipelines.

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“We’ve seen a resurrection of a west coast pipeline option, an east coast option and a southern option.”

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To the U.S.

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Smith remains confident addressing the sceptics.

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“The federal government can block things and the federal government under Justin Trudeau with his NDP coalition counterparts blocked pipelines and got them cancelled.