Alberta Wildrose Alliance leader Smith proposes a pipeline to Atlantic Canada

Alberta Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith has a plan for Alberta's oil: send it to eastern Canada. In a Thursday speech, Smith said Canada needs a pipeline from the Alberta oilsands all the way to the Atlantic coast to counter environmentalists blocking projects to the Gulf Coast and Asia.

"As we look to move our oilsands to market in the face of resistance to the South and West Coast, an all-Canadian solution is looking increasingly attractive," Smith said according to Postmedia News.

"Let's upgrade more oilsands in Canada using retrofitted existing facilities across the country. This would increase the use of domestically produced crude, it would eliminate imports, then we would export the remainder into new markets using an Atlantic marine route."

Canada already has pipeline infrastructure going from Alberta to Ontario. Under Smith's plan, those pipelines would likely need to be upgraded and new lines would need to be built to the deepwater port in Saint John, N.B. Refineries in Montreal and Sarnia, Ont., would also have to be retrofitted to process bitumen.

Former Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who now operates Tomorrowsgaspricetoday.com, says he's thrilled another politician is finally talking about sending Alberta oil eastward. In a blog he wrote last October, McTeague says it makes economic sense.

"The aftermath of a bygone battle on energy self-sufficiency in Canada, the idea of a pan-Canadian east-west oil infrastructure was punted in favour of a north-south/Alberta-U.S. oil arrangement that leaves almost half of eastern Canada reliant on foreign oil and petroleum products," he wrote.

"Indeed, a pipeline that once carried Alberta crude to Montreal was shutdown and reversed, supplying foreign-based oil refined gasoline back to a refinery-less Toronto."

In an interview with Yahoo! Canada News on Friday, McTeague added that Shell and Suncor are already talking about retrieving their own oil from Alberta and sending it via pipeline to eastern markets.

"This, of course, is good news for Canada and for consumers as a whole," he said. "Alberta inputs mean cheaper inputs, which ultimately mean cheaper prices at the pump."