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No wonder the empty-handed prime minister and minister of finance were met with mass protests upon visiting Calgary recently. And still they offered no new ideas to help Alberta’s economy.

This is surprising. Energy is Canada’s largest export, providing high-wage jobs to those directly and indirectly working in the industry. Alberta has contributed $220 billion in net transfers to the rest of the country in the past decade, almost three times more than Ontario. If Alberta is in crisis mode, the federal government should be in crisis mode too.

Even if Alberta’s plan manages to sop up its glut of oil inventory, capacity constraints remain

If it ever does decide to start taking this seriously, here are a few things Ottawa could do to actually help Alberta:

First, the federal government could repent for mishandling of Energy East and provide regulatory and fiscal support for its construction. It’s of interest to several provinces and to the benefit of greater trade diversification.

Second, revamp Bill C-69 to model it after best practices found in other countries, such as Australia, that separate specific project approvals from social and political issues. Federal legislation should also define “duty to consult” with our First Nations consistent with constitutional requirements. The Trudeau government has put much effort into working with Indigenous communities and they can help facilitate this important step in reducing uncertainty for resource project developments.

Third, the federal government can make two regulatory changes that would quickly speed up the availability of railway cars to move greater volumes of oil. The first would enable rail companies to bring back oil tankers forced offline after the Lac-Mégantic disaster because they were ruled unsafe to transport light oils — the cars do not pose the same risk when transporting bitumen, with its low flammability. The second would be loosening rules that currently prevent U.S. rail companies from travelling deep into Canadian routes, so they can help transport oil to the Gulf Coast. Both of these federal regulatory changes are far better than Notley’s plan to buy more railway cars.