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On Thursday, Premier Rachel Notley promised more than $50 billion in petrochemical industry investment.

She was talking to stakeholders at the Industrial Heartland conference in Edmonton — the very people, in the very place, that would benefit the most.

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And yet, nobody applauded. Nobody cheered.

She first said incentives for the new Inter Pipeline Petrochemical Complex project east of Edmonton has attracted $3.5 billion in private investment.

Then she added: “Imagine taking what we’ve done with Inter Pipeline and multiplying it by more than 15 times — that’s what our Made In Alberta plan means.”

Fifteen multiplied by $3.5 billion equals $52.5 billion in industry spending.

That’s a heck of a promise. You’d expect a twitch of life from the audience.

When Notley talks to a quiet crowd, she likes to say people were just paying close attention.

There is, however, a big difference between attentiveness and rigor mortis.