Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to work towards building a new pipeline to the West Coast. But don’t count the chickens just yet, as no eggs have actually hatched, and for all we know, they could be duds.

The memorandum is actually an agreement to potentially agree on a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia sometime in the future. It’s a promising development, but it’s not a solid “yes,” and it comes with a number of strings attached that could present a tripping hazard later on.

Alberta won some concessions: if the province fulfills its end of the bargain, the federal government says it will not impose a controversial cap on oil and gas emissions (and production), the regulations for which hav

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