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Alberta government officials hit speed dial to Ottawa as soon as they heard the B.C. Greens and NDP have a deal to form a government.

They were looking for assurance from the Prime Minister’s Office that approval of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion is still solid. The answer was a firm federal “yes,” according to a senior Alberta participant.

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But B.C. will now be ruled by two ardently anti-pipeline parties, through the shakiest excuse for a government in Canada.

One MLA will have to become the legislature Speaker, meaning that on any given day, the Liberals and the NDP-Green alliance will have an equal number of votes, 43.

The Speaker can break ties, but any government that has to rely on that vote is barely legitimate. It will be truly miraculous if the “four-year” agreement trumpeted by the NDP and Green leaders gets past 18 months.

Into that cauldron, Premier Rachel Notley’s Alberta NDP government is trying to inject some certainty, both through back-channel talks and public declarations.