Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is defending her government’s climate change plan, even as she admits the province’s economy is in slowdown.

In an interview with The West Block’s Tom Clark, Notley said she believes her government’s climate change measures could actually help improve the province’s economy.

“It’s going to inject money into priority areas that have the capacity to build and to grow right now in the economy,” she said.

“It’s also going to bring Alberta into the national and international conversation with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and allow us to work, I think, more effectively with our partners to secure diversified market access for the resources that we have in Alberta, particularly in the non-renewable sector.”

This could mean more access for pipelines, she said.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Alberta’s climate change plan – ‘war on coal’, ‘unfair hit’, or positive step forward?

But she admits that Alberta’s economy is not doing well. “We know it’s unprecedented that different parts of our economy are under tremendous stress and of course our provincial finances are under tremendous stress as well.”

“We are going to focus as much as we can on stability and then whatever we can do to generate economic activity and support to regular Alberta families,” she said.

Although her government will recalibrate during the economic slowdown, she believes the economic pain is temporary.

“We’re going through a slowdown now, especially compared with what we were dealing with before, but I think that we’re going to see that opportunity renew itself, and in the meantime, we have some incredibly strong fundamentals in our province.”

“The fact of the matter is that Alberta will continue to be—in the long term—one of the key economic drivers of Canada’s national economic health.”

Watch the full interview with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on The West Block with Tom Clark, Sunday at 10 a.m. Pacific and Mountain time and 11 a.m. Eastern time.